


Waiting Game

by Hamsterminion



Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Angst and Feels, Angst with a Happy Ending, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, Hurt Nicky | Nicolò di Genova, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Nicky | Nicolò di Genova Needs a Hug, Nicky | Nicolò di Genova Whump, Post-Movie: The Old Guard (2020), Protective Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani, Sex in later chapters, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-13 09:21:25
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 23,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28526133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hamsterminion/pseuds/Hamsterminion
Summary: Nicky is bitten by a werewolf while on a mission, and the team scrambles to find a way to help him.
Relationships: Andy | Andromache of Scythia & Quynh | Noriko, Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Comments: 12
Kudos: 100





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Soooo this is a first attempt at a fanfic in *checks watch* about 10 years, fingers crossed it's not awful?
> 
> Title is taken from Waiting Game by Yellowcard.
> 
> I've been reading so much The Old Guard fanfic I just had to write some! I was fascinated by the idea of a werewolf AU, and found that all of the werewolf fics so far in the TOG fandom involved the characters being a werewolf for a long time, and I wanted to explore what it would mean to the group now if it would happen to one of them. How would they cope? Would it cause problems with their immortality? So this idea came about from that.
> 
> In case it takes some time to get chapters up, I'm going to end every chapter with a quick summary.

“Ok guys, it looks like the asshole has a reduced security team tonight, so we can go in and get the intel without too much hassle,” Andy says before looking at each of her family members. Joe and Nicky are looking at each other, wordlessly communicating like they always do. Nile is clenching her jaw and nodding at Andy. 

“Tonight,” Nicky agrees, taking Joe’s hand in his and giving it a small squeeze. They each get up and begin preparations - cleaning guns, knives, and swords; taking stock of ammunition, getting a clean car, and memorising the plan. 

The plan itself was simple: the grounds were massive, with tall concrete walls bordering the estate. Copley would remotely scramble the security cameras, while Joe and Nicky take the front entrance to get everyone’s attention, and Andy and Nile sneak in through the back to grab the intel. It took several rounds of arguing to convince Andy to stay with Nile, Andy only agreeing after they realised out of all of them Nile was the most computer savvy, and Joe and Nicky were most comfortable in a mission when they worked together. But that doesn’t stop the uneasy silence that falls after they separate to prepare for the midnight drive to the target’s estate.

After a while, Nicky checks his watch - 6:54pm - and sighs.

“Yusuf, I’m going to make dinner,” Nicky says, planting a quick kiss on Joe’s cheek. Joe hums, watching Nicky as he leaves their bedroom. The room feels cold without him. Joe returns to his task of cleaning his scimitar and Nicky’s sword. He places the scimitar off to the side of the desk before placing the sword in front of him. He caresses the hilt, feeling the grooves of the leather in the grip. He wipes the pommel gently with a cloth and some oil.

Joe’s mind wanders back to the early days of his relationship with Nicky, when they were becoming more than friends. 

_ They were camping out near a settlement, sleeping in shifts to protect one another. Joe has always been a heavy sleeper, but this one night he awoke to the sound of gurgling. His eyes shot open in an instant. He grabbed his scimitar and rose to his feet before he could comprehend what was before him. The sound was coming from Nicky who was standing some 10 metres away from him. The tip of an arrow was poking out from the back of his neck, blood streaming down his neck and back. Nicky fell to his knees and coughed before crumpling onto the ground. _

_ “Nicolò!” Joe yelled as Nicky stopped moving. Joe heard a whistle through the air just before a searing pain came from his left shoulder. He cried out, looking to see an arrow sticking out of him. He quickly moved his scimitar to his left hand and pulled the arrow out with his right, darting into cover at the same time. The archer had to have a good view of Nicky and Joe to get them with precise shots, and only one vantage point was in firing range - a sand dune some 200 metres away. Joe tried to peer through the black of night, but he couldn’t see far ahead. Nicky gasped to life, and was quickly met with another arrow in his back. He was able to get the arrow out of his neck, but the angle of the arrow in his back made it hard to grab. He scrambled to his feet and looked around for cover. _

_ “Nicolò, over here,” Joe called out from behind a small group of trees that hid him from view. Another arrow through the air _

_ “Yusuf,” Nicky cried as the arrow lodged in the small of his back, hitting the base of his spine. He fell to his knees. He raced out to grab Nicky by his arms and began pulling him towards cover, but within a few seconds, an arrow was sticking out of his eye and he slumped onto the ground, dead.  _

_ When he woke up, Nicky was dragging someone towards the camp, stopping a few feet from Joe. Joe could just make out an empty quiver on the person’s back. Nicky let go of the figure, who instantly fought back. Nicky used the person’s momentum from them lunging at him to strike them with his pommel in the ribs. They cried out, but Nicky didn’t stop there. He maneuvered himself onto the person, before using the pommel again and again to hit the person’s face. Nicky screamed at them with every hit, cursing them in every language he knew. Joe could hear the bones of their face break. Nicky growled as he lifted himself off the ground and turned his sword so the blade tip faced the person on the ground. _

_ “ Now, I will show you mercy ,” he said in Ligurian through gritted teeth, before plunging the sword through their chest. _

“You ok?”

Joe jumps slightly at the words as they pull him from his thoughts. He turns towards the door to face the voice. Andy is leaning on the doorframe, arms crossed along her chest. She’s already dressed in her combat outfit - combat boots with comfortable dark pants and a black long sleeved shirt. Her lips are pressed together into a thin line.

“Yeah boss,” Joe responds.

“But?”

“But, this is our first gig since Merrick, and with the new dynamic…”

“You’re concerned how it’lll go.” Joe nods. “I promise to not risk my life, and not force Nile to keep covering me. And I’ll make sure Nile is alright.”

“Andy, you refused to let Nile cover you at the penthouse, I’m just concerned that thousands of years of muscle memory might make you fight like you’re still immortal.”

“That’s one of the many reasons you, Nicky, and Nile brought up during our debate.”

“Andy -”

“I know,” Andy sighs, throwing her hands up in the air. She comes into the room and sits on the bed. Joe comes over and sits next to her. “We have practiced it, many times, but at the end of the day, I can’t say for sure that I won’t be reckless.” Joe nudges her shoulder with his.

“It’s big of you to admit that,” Joe says through a grin. Andy playfully pushes his face away. “Seriously though, please be careful. There’s bound to be at least a few goons who stay behind, and none of us are ready to say goodbye to you.”

“Love you too, Joe,” Andy says, wrapping an arm around his shoulder. She pulls him in and kisses his curls, making him smile impossibly wide. “I’m gonna check on Nile, maybe you should see if Nicky needs help in the kitchen?”

“Ok boss.” Andy gets up from the bed and walks out the door. Joe keeps his smile until he can no longer see her, and the feeling in his gut creeps back up. He gets up and goes to the small kitchen, watching as Nicky wordlessly moves around to create another dish that Joe will likely write poetry about.

“Need help, my love?” Joe asks.  Nicky turns to him and gives him a small smile.

“No, I’m almost done,” he says.

“Already?” Joe says, raising an eyebrow as he moves closer.

“I prepared a few things earlier,” Nicky replies, stirring a sauce on the stove. Joe sniffs the aroma and sighs. Nicky’s making pasta, just the way he likes it. While Joe knows the cliché of an Italian making pasta, Nicky insists on making it before missions with loads of vegetables to keep up their energy. Joe heads to the cupboards to the side, and begins placing bowls near the stove, ready for serving. He moves around Nicky and finds a mismatch of forks to place with the bowls. He moves back to the dining table and sits down, watching his love move with ease between different pots. Joe’s so engulfed in the sight, that he doesn’t notice Nile walking up next to him. He flinches.

“Mm, smells good, Nicky,” she says, sitting down at the table as Nicky begins serving the meal.

“Thank you,” Nicky says, giving Nile the first bowl. She quickly tucks into the food. Andy walks in and flops into another seat. Nicky finishes serving each one of them then sits next to Joe.

“Everyone ready for later?” Andy asks between mouthfuls.

“Yes,” Nile says, rolling her eyes like her mother is asking her if she brushed her teeth. Joe smiles at her.

“Just need to change and we’ll be ready,” Joe says, and Nicky nods in agreement. 

“Good, we may go a little early if we’re prepared. Gives us time to scope out any issues,” Andy says.

“Make it 11 then?” Nicky says. They all nod.

“Ok, 11 it is.”

* * *

After cleaning up the dishes, Joe enters his and Nicky’s room, finding his love pulling out clothes for both of them. Joe leans on the doorframe, folds his arms and takes in the sight. Nicky’s humming a tune to himself, facing away from the door. His hair is sticking out in all directions, amusing Joe, who simultaneously wanted to flatten it down and pull the hair just how Nicky likes it. He turns and sees Joe, a smile spreading across his face.

“Yusuf,” Nicky says, lifting a hand up to beckon him closer. Joe obliges, crossing the room is a few steps and wrapping his arms around his love. Joe leans in and gives Nicky a drawn out kiss.

“Hi,” he whispers, turning his head to kiss the mole on Nicky’s cheek.

“What’s wrong?” Nicky asks, pulling away slightly to look Joe in the eyes. Joe sighs, of course Nicky knows something’s gnawing at him.

“Just worried about the mission,” Joe responds.

“About Andy, you mean?”

“Yeah.”

“Andy will be fine, Nile will look after her and she’s the only one that Andy listens to. She can go toe to toe with her, but if either of us tried we would be dead before we hit the ground.” Joe chuckles.

“You’re right, as always.”

“I know.” Nicky looks up at Joe through his eyelashes and raises an eyebrow. “Care to help me out of these clothes?” Joe grins and turns towards the door. He can’t hear Andy or Nile, but they’ll definitely hear what’s about to happen if the door stays open. Joe extricates himself from Nicky’s grasp, eliciting a small whine from Nicky. He closes the door as fast as he can without slamming it. 

“How long do we have?” he asks, looking Nicky up and down.

“Long enough,” Nicky smirks, running over to Joe and pulling him towards the bed.

Nile hears the click of the door to Joe and Nicky’s room closing and rolls her eyes. 

Andy laughs.

“Get used to it, kid,” she says through a crooked smile. They’re both still seated at the dining table, going through the final preparations for the mission. Nile’s counting their ammunition for a second time. They may be expecting less guards, but that doesn’t mean they are guaranteed any easy job. Best to be prepared for anything. She even fished out small throwing knives she found in the bottom of the supplies chest. Andy’s gaze had stilled on the knives for a moment when she saw them, but said nothing of them as they were displayed next to the ammo on the dining table. Nile thought about putting them back, but she secretly wanted an opportunity to use one. Andy sighs and checks her watch. 9:34pm. Still a while until they’re heading off.

“I’m having a nap, I’ll be back down in an hour,” she says as she gets up off her chair and heads for her room.

“You wanna stay out here instead of in your room, next door to them?” Nile asks, a smirk at the edge of her lips.

“Nile, there’s not a number high enough for the amount of times I’ve walked in on them fucking, let alone heard them. It’s fine,” Andy responds over her shoulder as she walks to her room and closes the door. 

Andy may be used to hearing Joe and Nicky, but she certainly isn’t, so Nile pulls out her phone, puts her headphones in her ears and starts going through her music selection. She finds a playlist she made called Work Out Mix, and puts it on. She keeps counting, moving between the dining table and the supplies chest. She keeps a mental checklist of each person’s preferred guns and what ammo would be needed for them, and starts to move the ammo into piles. Nile and Andy’s piles are full of bullets for their assault rifles and pistols, while Nicky and Joe’s piles also include shotgun shells. She leaves a couple of throwing knives in each pile. After a few songs, she looks at her work and smiles. She clicks her fingers, remembering that they’ll need a bolt cutter for the gate at the back of the estate and quickly grabs one for her pile of supplies. One task done, now to stretch out her muscles. She may be immortal, but she’s not cramping up in the middle of a mission for even one second. Plus, it's become part of her routine over the years, and helps get her mindset right. She gets through two reps of her routine before Nicky and Joe come out of their room. Both look flushed, and Nile rolls her eyes again. Nicky sees her and somehow blushes even harder. Joe just grins. Nile pulls out her earphones as they approach.

“Got it out of your system?” she teases, giving Joe a playful tap on his arm as he walks past her to the kitchen. 

“For a couple of hours,” Joe chuckles and Nicky gives Nile an apologetic look. “Almost time to go?”

“Yeah, Andy will be down in a minute, she was grabbing a nap,” Nile says. Nicky hums with acknowledgement. 

“Thank you for sorting the ammo, Nile,” Joe says as he passes her with two water bottles. He hands one to Nicky and they both drain the bottles. 

“I’ll double check our food supplies,” Nicky says and walks into the kitchen. Nile hears a familiar stomp of Andy’s feet and sees her turn into the living area, bulletproof vest on and labrys attached to her back.

“We leave in fifteen,” she orders.

* * *

The drive to the estate is mostly quiet, with Andy driving - she had glared as each of them when they suggested someone else drive and pointedly reminded them she was still the boss; Nile is in the front passenger’s seat, while Nicky and Joe were in the back seat.

“Wow,” Nile says, looking up out of the passenger window, observing the full moon. “The moon is beautiful night.” Joe looks over at Nicky and grabs his hand.

“Yes he is,” Joe quips, and is met with a series of groans.

“Keep it in your pants, Joe,” Andy says.

“It’s like hearing my parents flirting,” Nile says through a grimace. Nicky blushes but Joe laughs, bringing the hand he’s holding to his lips and kissing each knuckle while maintaining eye contact. Joe leans over and places his head on Nicky’s shoulder, rubbing his cheek and making a satisfied noise. Nicky turns and kisses his curls. 

“We’re here,” Andy says, parking the car off the main road. “The mansion’s another kilometre down the road.” Everyone gets out of the car and makes their way to the trunk, grabbing out their weapons. Andy wriggles an earpiece into her right ear and presses it.

“Comm check,” she says, and they all confirm their comms are working. She nods, and they split off into their pairs. Nicky and Joe walk off to the side of the road, while Nile and Andy move into the treeline to get around the other side of the estate.

“Check the perimeter while we wait, Copley will bring down the security feed at exactly twelve thirty,” Andy says over the comms. Joe responds with a quick “Yes, boss” before they all go silent. Andy and Nile slip easily through the trees and crouch behind cover while watching the back fence. There’s a small gate just wide enough for a person to walk through, and as Copley had promised in his debrief, the gate only had a padlock to keep it closed. Nile wonders for a moment why a person with personal security and an electric gate out the front of the mansion would skimp on updating the back gate. Maybe they were cocky enough to think no one would try to break in after taking one look at the front gate. She shrugs and checks her watch. Still only 12:15am. She sighs and Andy gives her a small nudge.

“Not long,” Andy whispers. She hasn’t taken her eyes off the gate, watching for any sign of movement. “Wanna bet as to why security is low tonight?”

“Isn’t he at a meeting tonight?” Nile whispers back, “Maybe he took some of his team with him.”

“Maybe. Or maybe they all decided to get drunk while the boss is away.” Nile snorts.

“Sure, Andy.” They both watch through the gate and find no guards walking the perimeter. Andy frowns.

“Surely they would have someone patrolling out here,” she breathes, but all Nile can do is shrug. Nile looks back at her watch. 12:28am.

“2 minutes,” she says and she counts down the seconds in her head. The moment she counts down to zero, Nile hears gunfire from across the grounds.

“They get a 60 second head start to distract the guards,” Andy says, eyes still watching the gate. Nile continues counting and Andy jumps up when she reaches 59 seconds. Nile follows her to the gate, pulling out the bolt cutters from her pack. She quickly breaks through the key lock and they enter the grounds. Andy has her silenced pistol in her head, watching around every corner. Nile sighs as Andy passes her, and Nile touches her shoulder as she gets back in front. Nile spots a door that looks like it leads to a cellar, but she doesn’t remember one in the blueprints. She doesn’t have time to dwell on it, as Andy keeps pushing forward. 

They enter through a back door, the gunshots getting louder. They’re now accompanied by shouting in various languages, and while Nile doesn’t recognise each word, she can tell the guards are cursing up a storm. The women make their way up a flight of stairs and into the study that overlooks the back garden. Nile sighs in relief when there’s no one in the room. She quickly zips open her pocket and pulls out a USB drive. She inserts it into the desktop and starts working on it. Andy moves to stand in a corner that gives her a view of the door leading back into the hallway and the back garden through the windows.

“We’re in position, getting intel now,” Andy says through the comms. A moment later they hear banging through them.

“All good here boss,” Nicky responds, with a quiet “fuck” in the background that is undeniably Joe. “Yusuf’s fine, just a scrape. We’re in the dining room.”

“We leave in ten,” Andy commands. There’s a loud thump coming from outside. Nile jumps but doesn’t look away from the screen. Andy points her gun out the window, and sees the cellar door they passed earlier fly off its hinges. A hulking dark figure emerges, but before Andy can see exactly what it is, the thing turns and runs towards the back door. They hear a loud crash of shattering glass, then a long, deep growl. Andy and Nile freeze on the spot. Nile eyes the computer screens. Transfer is 80% complete. They can just see an outline of the figure before another burst of gunfire gets its attention. It runs towards the sound.

“Fuck it’s -” Nile starts but Andy finishes the sentence for her.

“- going after them.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case it takes some time to get chapters up, I'm going to end every chapter with a quick summary.

“Joe, Nicky, get out of there!” Andy screams down the comms, making Joe wince.

“Andy, what’s wrong?” Nicky responds, checking his clip.

“There’s something coming your way, it looked like a massive beast. Get out now!” Joe and Nicky stare at each other. Together they run into the main foyer of the mansion. They both scramble to a stop at the sight before them. A 7 foot tall figure covered in dark grey fur stands before them with a long snout and a massive open mouth with sharp teeth. The bright blue eyes glow in the near darkness. It snarls at them, flexing its long black claws. In a flash, the beast runs at them on all fours, knocking Joe onto the nearby staircase while Nicky hits the wall behind him. NIcky sucks in a breath as the beast leaps towards him. He’s able to get his sword out to stop as wipe of the claws, but the strength of the blow pulls the sword from his grip. It clatters on the ground several feet away. Nicky rolls towards the sword, but the beast lands a clawed hand on his leg and grips him tight, eliciting a cry from the Italian.

“Nicky!” Joe yells from behind the beast. It takes no notice. Nicky hears gunshots as the beast flinches. It curls it’s claws further into Nicky’s legs and Nicky stares into its eyes. The irises are rimmed in a deep blue, but the rest is a bright shining light that seems to illuminate in the dark. It reaches out with its other hand and pins Nicky’s arm, before ducking forward and biting his chest. Nicky screams. It digs all of its claws further and further into Nicky’s flesh, refusing to let go. Joe emerges from behind the beast, gun raised. He shoots directly at its face, getting it in one eye. The beast pulls itself away from Nicky, blood spurting from its ruined eye. It turns and runs off into the mansion. Joe lowers his gun and looks at Nicky, whimpering at the sight. Nicky’s right arm and leg are still attached to his body, but only by a few strands of muscle. The floor is covered in blood. Nicky’s mouth is moving, but no words come out. Joe kneels next to his love, hands hovering in the air, unsure of where to touch.

“Nicolò,” Joe breathes. His hands land on Nicky’s face, cupping his cheeks. Tears stream down his own cheeks. Nicky coughs, a few drops of blood flecking his lips. Joe eyes Nicky’s torso and looks at where the thing bit him. The bite mark goes halfway across Nicky’s chest, and judging by the blood in Nicky’s mouth, has punctured a lung. Nicky’s body begins to shiver, snapping Joe’s eyes back to Nicky’s face. Under his hands he can see black marks crawling through Nicky’s skin.

“ _ Nicolò stay with me please _ ,” Joe whispers in Italian. Nicky’s eyes roll back, and Joe sobs. The shivers stop.

* * *

“Joe, Nicky, where the hell are you?” Andy hisses down the comms. Nile is next to her, pocketing a now full USB. 

“Do you think that thing got them?” Nile asks. Andy doesn’t answer, only swallows down her fears. 

“Andy.” It's a low rasp over the comms, but Andy can make out Joe’s voice anywhere

.

“Joe, what the fuck happened?” She asks, trying to hide her desperation.

“It... it hurt Nicky,” Joe sobs. 

“FUCK,” Andy yells. “Joe where are you?”

“Main foyer.”

“Ok, we are coming for you.” Andy inhales sharply then turns to Nile. Nile clenches her jaw and nods once. 

They run through the mansion, stopping at every entrance hoping to not run into the beast. Somehow, they make it to the stairs without incident. They race down them, and Nile gasps, stopping at the end of the stairs. Andy steps forward and kneels next to Joe. Andy places a hand on his shoulder and he flinches. She turns to look at Nicky’s face and frowns.

“Joe, what is that?” She asks, pointing towards the black lines forming on Nicky’s skin.

“I don’t know,” he responds. Andy’s hand moves down to Nicky’s neck, tracing the line. It continues under the collar of Nicky’s shirt. Andy places her hands under the hem of his shirt and lifts it up. She groans at the bite mark across Nicky’s chest, but sees that the black lines are all coming from the bite. She hears Nile vomit behind her.

“Fuck,” Andy mutters. She turns back to Joe, who’s staring at Nicky’s face. “Joe, look at me.” Joe blinks and slowly turns his head to face her. “The beast, did it have long pointed ears, and glowing eyes? Was it covered in fur?” Joe frowns.

“Yes,” Joe whispers.

“Fuck. It’s the full moon tonight,” Andy groans. She feels Nicky’s lungs inflate under her hands before he cries out. Nicky’s eyes quickly open, but they’re different. His blue-green eyes are a bright illuminated blue. 

“ _ Nicky, I’m here, I'm here _ ,” Joe says in Italian, trying to get Nicky’s attention. But his eyes are wild, running around the room with no clear destination. He coughs, and black liquid drips from the corner of his mouth. “Nicky?” 

“Joe, we have to get him out of here,” Andy says, moving her hands to Joe’s arm and giving him a shake.

“Andy, what’s wrong?” Nile says, coming closer.

“Nicky was bitten by a werewolf, and his body is fighting the bite,” Andy says over her shoulder, “We have to get him out of here.”

“What? Werewolves aren’t real,” NIle says and Andy shoots her a look.

“Does this look fake to you?” Andy hisses as Nicky screams. His eyes return to their normal colour, but more black liquid is escaping his mouth. The bite is seeping the substance slowly out of Nicky’s body, and his arm and leg are not reattaching. Nicky’s body shakes for a moment then goes limp.

“Nononononono,” Joe gasps, still holding Nicky’s face.

“Yusuf,” Andy says, gripping his right arm tight, “You need to focus so we can get Nicky out of here, ok?” Joe nods but doesn’t take his eyes away from Nicky’s face.

“Yes boss,” he croaks.

“Ok, can you lift him?” 

“Yes.” 

“Ok, you are going to lift him up from his right side, so his injured arm and leg are pressed into you and won’t hang loose.” Andy turns to face Nile. “Nile, grab Nicky’s sword and take the front, and I’ll take the rear. We are going straight back to the car and go to the safehouse, clear?”

“Clear,” Nile says.

“Clear,” Joe echoes. He carefully lifts Nicky into his arms. Nile takes the scabbard from Nicky’s waist and wraps it around herself. She grabs his sword, sheathes it, heads to the front door, and checks for any bad guys in the front yard.

“Front’s clear,” Nile says, nodding to Andy.

“I’m sorry, my love,” Joe whispers, moving Nicky’s body to an easier position to carry. 

“Lets go,” Andy says, and they move as one. 

* * *

They don’t encounter any more guards or werewolves on the way to the car, much to their relief. But Nicky hasn’t woken up since they were in the mansion. Joe carefully places Nicky into the back seat, before sliding in behind him. Joe props Nicky up in his lap, his head resting on Joe’s chest. Andy takes the driver’s seat and Nile slots into the passenger’s seat. The speedometer keeps ticking up, well past the speed limit. Joe has one hand firmly on Nicky’s chest, waiting to feel his love breathe again, while the other is carefully stroking Nicky’s hair. Joe stares at Nicky’s face, eyes lifeless and dull, lips slightly parted with blood and the black liquid drying on them. Black lines cover his face. 

“ _ Please Nicolò, please wake up for me _ ,” Joe whispers in Arabic to the top of his love’s head, “ _ You can’t leave me here alone. _ ” As if on queue, Nicky’s chest seizes. A weak cry escapes from Nicky’s mouth.

“Joe,” Nicky rasps. Nicky can feel Joe’s heartbeat through his chest. No, he can hear it, like he’s listening through a stethoscope. It takes a moment before he registers Joe’s loud breathing above him. And it's all he can hear, his Joe, his heart, with him. Nicky closes his eyes and tries to breathe in deeply, but he coughs up more blood and something else. Joe is kissing the top of his head. 

“Nicolò,” Joe quietly sobs.

“H-how long?” Nicky asks, a grimace forming on his face.

“30 minutes,” Joe whispers. Nicky’s eyes move to his nearly severed arm and leg. They’re healing, but a lot slower than they should be. Something deep inside Nicky causes him to growl, surprising himself. Where did that come from? Joe stops moving. He heard it too.

“Nicky, you there?” Andy’s voice cuts through his thoughts.

“Yes,” Nicky responds.

“You just need to hold on until we get to the safehouse,” Andy says back, a tinge of urgency in her voice.

“Boss?” Nicky says, before his chest spasms. He screams, causing the others to flinch. Joe’s grip on him gets tighter, but Nicky easily pushes Joe’s arm off his chest. Joe tries to wrap his arm around him again until Nicky snarls. Joe’s arm freezes in mid air. Nicky’s left hand scratches as the remainder of his shirt, pulling it off to reveal the skin underneath. The black lines have spread all across his torso, concentrating around his organs. The puncture marks are oozing black liquid. The unshed tears Nicky was holding on to fall at the sight. 

“Nicky, it’s ok, you’ll be ok,” Joe reassures him.

“What’s happening to me?” Nicky coughs.

“We’ll work it out, my love,” Joe whispers, and Nicky sobs, turning his face into Joe’s chest. They stay like for several minutes before Nicky begins wheezing. 

“No no no, Nicky, stay with me,” Joe pleads. Nicky moves his head to look up at Joe, but his eyes are glowing and unfocused.

“Yus-” Nicky splutters as more of the black liquid mixed with blood flows from his lips. Joe brings his hands to either side of his face.

“Andy how far to the safehouse?” Joe yells, not taking his eyes off of Nicky.

“Almost there - maybe 3 minutes,” Andy says.

“Go faster,” Joe demands, and Andy floors it. “Nicky, please look at me.” Nicky’s wheezing gets louder, and Nicky tries, he really tries to look Joe in the eyes, but he can no longer make out Joe’s face. 

“I-I l-love y-y-” is all Nicky can say before his body goes limp.

“No, wake up, please, my love, wake up,” Joe wails, moving his arms around Nicky’s chest and pulling him closer. Nicky’s head drops onto Joe’s forearms. Joe moves his head to have his cheek brush against Nicky’s ear. He whispers in their mixed language that only Andy can decipher as the car screeches to a halt. Andy and Nile quickly exit the car, Andy heads to the back of the car while Nile goes into the safehouse. Carefully, Andy and Joe get Nicky out of the car, before Joe take’s his love in his arms and moves into the safehouse. Nile has cleared the dining table, allowing Joe to place Nicky on it. Andy follows close behind and closes the front door. Joe looks over Nicky’s still healing arm and leg. They’re no longer hanging by a thread, and are now mostly connected to his body. The black lines are now over Nicky’s limbs and fingers, and as Joe removes his boots, finds it has spread to his toes as well. Andy moves to stand left to Joe and grabs his hand. It’s enough to sneak Joe out of his mind.

“What do you know Andy?” Joe asks.

“Not much,” Andy sighs, “I thought they were extinct. I haven’t seen a werewolf in over two thousand years.”

“But what do you know that can help Nicky?” Joe asks, firmer this time.

“The only time I’ve seen a reaction like this from a bite they…” Andy stops and swallows hard.

“They what?!” Joe yells. Andy turns away, unable to meet Joe’s fierce gaze.

“They died Joe,” Andy says softly. Joe jerks his hand away from her.

“No. No!” Joe whispers. 

“But they died once the infection hit their heart,” Andy explains, “Nicky’s still fighting, the black hit his heart some time ago, and he still came back.”

“But this one could stick?”

“I-I don’t know.” Joe gasps, his hands searching for Nicky. They land on Nicky’s shoulder and he squeezes it hard. Nile appears from the kitchen, her arms full of damp towels and rags. Joe takes one, and begins cleaning Nicky’s face.

“May I?” Nile asks, pointing to Nicky’s still healing leg.

“Yes,” Joe whispers, and Nile begins cleaning off the fluids from Nicky’s leg. Joe caresses Nicky’s cheek as he wipes the blood and liquid from his chin. 

“You have to wake up, my love. You can’t leave me here. You promised.” 

Once Nicky’s face is clean, Joe discards the rag and grabs another one, working his way down Nicky’s neck to his chest. He carefully wipes over the bite, the puncture marks still open. After a few minutes, Nicky’s body is relatively clean, and they can see his wounds more clearly. There’s about a half dozen open punctures in Nicky’s chest, along with several black scars from other teeth. They can now see multiple cuts on both the arm and leg that are still healing, including smaller cuts that were hidden under the mix of blood and black liquid. 

Nicky’s lungs slowly expand and Joe sighs with relief. Nicky’s eyes don’t open, but he lets out a deep growl.

“Nicolò?” Joe says, imploring his love to say something. Nicky’s eyes slowly open, glowing even in the sliver Joe can see, before squeezing them shut.

“Too bright,” Nicky groans. Nile reaches for the overhead light switch and turns it off.

“The light’s off,  _ hayati _ ,” Joe whispers into Nicky’s ear, making Nicky flinch.

“Are you yelling?” Nicky murmurs, and Joe raises an eyebrow. Joe pulls away.

“No, Nicky, I’m not,” Joe says before turning to Andy, “Do you know what’s happening?”

“Werewolves are meant to have enhanced senses, so maybe his body is accepting it to some degree?” Andy shrugs, “But judging by the spider pattern on his skin it’s not completely taking.”

“Werewolves? What happened?” Nicky asks. He moves his left arm to cover his eyes. Andy exhales. Joe grabs Nicky’s hand and squeezes it. Nicky reciprocates, but squeezes too hard, causing loud crunch to echo through the room. Joe groans, but doesn’t move his hand away.

“Nicolò, you were attacked by a werewolf,” Joe says gently, stroking Nicky’s hair as he talks. Nicky bolts upright, eyes wide open, pulling Joe along with him with his clasped hand. There’s a small popping sound, and Joe’s arm goes slack. Nicky turns to his left and sees Joe’s crushed hand in his and lets go like his touch burns.

“Yusuf, what the- I’m so sorry,” Nicky says, looking at his Joe as Nile comes up to Joe and helps pull his shoulder back into place. Nicky lifts a shaky hand and points at him. “Did I do that?”

“It was an accident, don’t worry,” Joe soothes, reaching out to touch him. Nicky recoils.

“You said I was attacked by a werewolf,” Nicky stutters, “It did this to me?” Joe drops his hand back to his side.

“Yes,” he says and Nicky gasps. He places his left hand on his chest and pushes hard above where some of the black are gathered over his heart. His breathing becomes rapid, and Nicky frantically looks around the room.

“Nico it’s safe ,” Joe soothes.

“Not if I’m here,” Nicky groans. He leans over the side of the table and coughs, more mixed fluids dripping from his mouth. He flops back onto the table, his head hitting it with a loud thud. 

“I’ll hurt you. Again.” Joe opens his mouth to speak, but nothing comes out. Nicky’s body shudders again, lasting only a few seconds before Nicky stops breathing. Joe quietly sobs, unable to comfort his love.

* * *

The cycle of Nicky coming back to life only to die again continues for what feels like an eternity for Joe, but Andy reminds him it’s only been 24 hours. 24 hours of suffering, and no way to comfort his Nicolò. Joe hovers around Nicky’s face, but doesn’t touch him, even as his whole body screams at him to brush his fingers on Nicky’s cheek.

* * *

Nicky awakes with a cough, no more liquid escaping his lips. He groans and opens his eyes, Joe’s upside down face the first thing he sees.

“Yusuf,” he says tenderly, and reaches out to touch Joe. As he is about to connect skin to skin, Nicky stops and stares at his hand. He gasps, watching as the black lines on his skin begin to recede.

“God, Nicky,” Nile breathes, watching intently from Nicky’s right side. Andy’s lips move into a small smile before she flops onto the nearest chair. A 24 hour vigil takes its toll on mortals. Slowly, the lines from Nicky’s hand disappear, and he then looks at his healed right arm and legs, the lines are leaving them too. Within a minute, the only black skin Nicky has is scars from his bite. Joe lets out a long slow breath he didn’t realise he was holding in. He stares into Nicky’s glowing eyes and smiles. Nicky smiles back before gingerly lifting himself up off the table. He swings his legs off the side and groans. Joe’s hands hover above the small of Nicky’s back and his stomach, ready to take his weight if Nicky slumps forward or back. 

“You need to rest,  _ hayati _ ,” Joe says, and Nicky nods.

“To our bed?” Nicky asks and Joe’s smile gets impossibly bigger. Nile hangs back while Nicky places his feet on the ground. He sways slightly, placing a hand on the table to steady himself. He looks Joe up and down, then peers at Nile and Andy.

“You all look awful,” he says, “how long was it?” Joe tenses.

“It took 24 hours for your body to accept the bite,” Andy sighs.

“Accept - what do you mean?” Nicky says. He looks down at his torso, inspecting his scars that definitely shouldn’t be possible for an immortal to have.

“You got bitten by a werewolf, and survived, so that makes you…” Andy says, waiting for the penny to drop.

“One of them,” Nicky whispers. His feet do give out then, and Joe just gets a hold of him before Nicky’s head hits the table. “Nonononononono. They’re not real. This isn’t happening.” Tears appear in his eyes and Nicky stares pleadingly at Joe, asking for him to refute what Andy said.

“We’ll work it out, I promise,” Joe says, pulling Nicky into a tight embrace. Nicky drops his forehead to Joe’s shoulder and sobs. Joe carefully guides him to their room. Luckily the door was already open, so Joe only has to kick it shut after they enter. Joe slowly bends over, helping Nicky sit on the bed across the room. Once Nicky’s ass hits the firm bed, he flops back onto it, hard. Joe, lifts his legs onto the bed, and helps move Nicky so his head is on the pillows. Nicky’s sobs have turned into quiet sniffles, his body too exhausted to keep crying. Nicky curls into himself, facing away from the door. Joe kicks his shoes off and crawls in behind Nicky. Nicky flinches when he feels Joe’s chest against his back, but hisses when Joe’s hand touches his right side.

“Does it still hurt?” Joe asks and Nicky nods. Joe moves his arm to his own side, resisting the urge to wrap around Nicky’s torso. “Sleep, Nicolò. I’m here, you’re safe now.” Nicky tenses at the words.

“I hurt you,” he croaks, “I could’ve hurt Andy. I could still hurt any of you -” Joe carefully touches his shoulder and kisses the back of his neck.

“I am fine, and you have not and will not hurt Andy,” Joe assures him. 

“I’m not me anymore. I’m a monster,” Nicky whispers. Joe lifts his head to look down at Nicky’s face. 

“Nicolò, look at me,” he says, squeezing Nicky’s shoulder. Nicky turns his head to peer up at him. “You’re not a monster, you are Nicolò di Genova. The love of my life and the kindest person I have ever known. Nothing, and I mean nothing, could make you a monster. Ever.” Nicky looks away as his lips twitch. “This is not something we thought would ever happen, but we will deal with it together, like we always have, ok?”

“Ok,” Nicky whispers, and for Joe, that’s enough. Joe drops his head back onto the pillow and gets comfortable behind his love. He knows he won’t sleep unless Nicky does, but he closes his eyes and breathes into Nicky’s neck, and for a moment, everything’s ok. Slowly, Nicky’s breathing evens out, and Joe feels the moment Nicky slips into sleep. He allows himself to drift away into a fitful slumber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Summary:
> 
> Joe and Nicky are attacked by the werewolf. Nicky is seriously injured and bitten. The team get back to the safehouse, and Nicky intermittedly wakes up only to die again as he body fights the bite. After 24 hours, Nicky's body accepts it, and he and Joe go to sleep in their bed.
> 
> Feel free to give kudos or comments! I'm hoping to update at least once a week, depending on what happens IRL.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case it takes some time to get chapters up, I'm going to end every chapter with a quick summary.

Nicky wakes up and can’t feel Joe behind him. He frowns and turns over towards the door. The door is open but the safehouse is quiet. Too quiet. Nicky slowly makes his way to the edge of the bed. He looks down and realises he’s still in his stained pants from the mission. How long ago was that? One, two nights ago? And after everything that has happened, Joe wouldn’t leave him alone. Unless he had no choice. Nicky clenches his jaw and quietly checks the ensuite first. No luck. He then walks into the living area, still no one. He checks every other room in the safehouse, and no one is there. Panic begins to rise in Nicky’s chest. He focuses on his breathing, using his training as a sniper to keep his breathing steady. He walks towards the front door and stops. He sniffs the air and swears at the familiar metallic scent. Blood. In three quick strides he’s at the front door, his fingers twitching as he reaches for the doorknob. A low rumble comes from inside his chest, and Nicky ignores it. He turns the knob and pulls the door open.

The smell of blood intensifies and Nicky holds back a gasp. Before him is the front courtyard of the safehouse, with body parts scattered all over the grass and small garden. Nicky’s eyes fall on a head a few feet to his right. He swallows hard and makes himself walk towards it. It has short hair, but there’s too much blood through it to discern a colour. He moves around to see the face and collapses to his knees. He can no longer control his breathing as Andy’s lifeless face stares at him. Nicky gags. Her eyes are wide and her mouth stuck open as if she were screaming.

“Andy,” he breathes, reaching out to touch her face. He hears a blood curdling scream and whips his head towards the noise. He knows that scream.

“Yusuf.” He gets up and runs as fast as he can to where the scream came from. He rushes past the safehouse and sees a figure standing over a bloody and beaten Joe in the back corner of the backyard. 

“Hey!” Nicky yells, and the figure flinches. He sees long dark claws at the end of their fingers, dropping with blood. They turn slowly and face him. “What the-” The figure has Nicky’s face, but it’s distorted with massive sharp teeth. Teeth covered in blood. 

“Please, Nicolò, it’s me,” Joe begs. Not-Nicky turns back to Joe and lets out a deep growl. It raises its claws as Nicky runs at him.

“No!” he screams, but he’s too late. He watches in slow motion as it slashes Joe’s throat, blood splatter painting the fence red. Nicky pushes not-Nicky with all his strength, and they crash through the fence and out of his eyesight. Nicky turns to Joe and holds his neck in his hands.

“Joe, no, please,” Nicky pleads, tears forming in his eyes.

“Why,” Joe croaks, “why Nicky?” 

“It wasn’t me, it wasn’t me, please Joe.” Joe’s eyes grow wide as he stares over Nicky’s shoulder. A shadow casts over them both. Nicky turns, and all he sees is sharp teeth coming towards him.

* * *

Joe can feel Nicky’s body tense up, his breathing shallow and rapid. A nightmare. He places his hand on Nicky’s shoulders and squeezes.

“Nicolò, wake up,” he soothes, lifting his head up to look down at Nicky’s face. His love is frowning deeply, the side of his mouth twitching. Joe sighs. Nicky had finally stopped having nightmares about Merrick every night, and now his body is responding the exact same way to this situation. Joe slowly backs away from Nicky, knowing that soon he will start moving around and hitting anything in his path. But Joe waited too long. An elbow thrusts back, hitting him in the chest. He could feel the rib crack and stab his lung. He groans, getting himself off the bed. Andy runs into the room, her gun pointing at Joe.

“Joe, what the fuck?” she says, lowering the gun and looking at Nicky. He’s writhing in the sheets, arms and legs going in every direction. Joe unconsciously lifts a hand to his chest where Nicky elbowed him. He grimaces. Punctured lungs aren’t fun. He moves around to the other side of the bed to face Nicky.

“ _ Nicolò, my love, you need to wake up _ ,” Joe says in Italian, his voice slightly louder than his normal voice. Nile appears in the doorway and her eyes land on Nicky.

“Shit,” she says, “Another one.”

“Yeah, and he seems to be stronger now too,” Joe coughs. He places his free hand to his mouth and some droplets of blood fleck his skin. “We have to wait it out.” Nicky whimpers, and Joe has to use all of his willpower to not reach out to comfort him. After another minute, Nicky’s eyes fly open, landing on Joe. He sighs in relief, before sniffing the air. Blood.

“No no no, did I hurt you?” Nicky whispers, his hands reaching out towards his partner.

“It’s ok,” Joe soothes, “It healed.” Nicky winces. Nicky sits upright, bringing his knees up to his chest. He wraps his arms around them and lowers his forehead to his knees. He rocks gently. Joe’s heart breaks are the sight.

“Nononononono,” he breathes. Joe reaches out to touch Nicky’s shoulder. “Don’t.” Nicky looks up at Joe, tears rolling down his cheeks. “Please, don’t.”

“What can I do to help?” Joe asks.

“There’s nothing you can do. I’m sorry,” Nicky cries. 

“No, Nicky, there’s nothing to be sorry about,” Joe says, but Nicky shakes his head.

“I’ve hurt you twice now since… since it happened,” Nicky sobs, “I can’t be near you. Any of you.”

“Nicolò…”

“Yusuf. I can’t.” An uneasy silence falls across the room - Nicky and Joe looking into each other’s eyes, Nile and Andy looking between them.

“Joe, you can bunk with me,” Andy says.

“Boss-” Joe protests but Andy lifts her hand up to stop him.

“Nicky, do you need some space?” Andy asks. Nicky nods as he looks away from Joe.

“That settles it. Joe, grab what you need for the night and go to my room,” Andy orders, and Joe sighs. He doesn’t grab anything, just walks straight out of the room. Andy watches him leave before flicking her hand. Nile sees the gesture and leaves for her room. Once the others are out of her sight, she turns back to Nicky.

“We all want to help you, Nicky,” she says.

“I know,” Nicky murmurs.

“We will work this out. I promise you.” Nicky’s mouth twitches into a small smile.

“Thanks, boss.”

“Try to get some sleep, ok? You need to rest.”

“I can’t. That nightmare-” Nicky shudders. “I can’t have that every time I close my eyes.”

“Ok, then try to rest. And when you can, please talk to Joe. You know he won’t rest himself until you do.”

“Yes, boss.” Andy nods then leaves, pulling the door behind her. “Leave it open. Please.”

“Of course.” Andy pushes the door back to the wall, gives Nicky one more quiet look then leaves. Nicky waits until he hears the door to Andy’s room close before letting out the breath he was holding in. He chews on his bottom lip, mentally cursing himself for hurting Joe for a third time. But he can’t risk it. He knows that. Nicky will never forgive himself if he were to kill any of them, especially Andy. He reminds himself it’s only been a day in the near thousand years he has lived, it’s a drop in the ocean. One bad day. It has to get better, right? He lays down on his back, unable to sleep on his right side to face the door (thanks bite mark), and not wanting to have his back to the door either. He wanted the door open so he could breath, so if Joe came out he would at least see Nicky was there. Even if they didn’t touch. They’ve gone years without touching each other before, they can do it again. It’s not ideal, but they will survive this. They have to. Nicky closes his eyes and breathes in and out deeply through his nose. It’s not much, but maybe if he focused he could think about something else. 

* * *

Joe flops onto Andy’s double bed. He sighs deeply, running his hands down his face. He hears Andy come back into the room and close the door. He moves his hands away from his face, allowing him to watch Andy sit on the bed beside him.

“Andy, what do I do?” Joe whispers, “I need to help him.”

“But he doesn’t know what he needs,” Andy points out, “Until he works things out, you could do more harm than good.”

“I know but, I can’t stand seeing him in so much pain.” Joe sniffs, trying to hold back tears. Andy gives him a smile and rubs his shoulder. 

“You’re two halves of a whole, when one of you suffers so does the other,” Andy sighs. She’s heard Joe say it a thousand times before. “But right now he needs time to figure it out. None of us can help him, we don’t know what it’s like to be turned into a fucking werewolf.”

“Yeah.”

“But he knows we are here for him, and when he’s ready, he’ll come to you first. He always comes to you.” She moves forward and wraps Joe into a tight hug. “It’s only been one night. Give him the space he needs, and he’ll be with you in no time.”

“Thanks boss.” Andy pulls back and ruffles Joe’s curls, making him smile weakly. 

“Now I need my sleep. If you want to hold me like you do Nicky, that’s fine. Do you want me to face the door?”

“Yes.” Andy nods and waits for Joe to move back further on the bed before laying down on her right side facing the door. She checks that her pistol is still under her pillow and places her hand back on top of it. Joe moves in behind her, his chest close to Andy’s back as he brings an arm around her. 

“Night Joe,” Andy says as she closes her eyes.

“Night boss,” Joe responds. He feels Andy fall asleep almost instantly, and he wonders how she can do that. But then again, they’d all been awake while Nicky was dying and reviving, and since she’s now mortal, it could be taking more of a toll on her than the others. Joe pulls her in a little tighter, thankful for every day he has Andy in his life.

* * *

Nile opens her eyes and groans. She can’t see the time on her phone but she can tell it’s early. She hears the phone buzzing, once, twice, a third time. Maybe she should check it. She groans again and places a hand on the phone, pulling it towards herself. She sees the sender and raises her eyebrows.

**Booker**

Quynh dreamt of you last night - she saw Nicky

having a nightmare and crying, what the fuck

happened??

Nile answer me.

Nile I will call you.

**Nile**

I can’t talk about it. I’m sorry.

**Booker**

Is he ok??

**Nile**

No. But he will be.

  
  


**Booker**

Ok. Let me know if we can help.

**Nile**

I will.

Nile sighs. She desperately wants to tell Booker that Nicky got bitten by a fucking werewolf, but she knows that Joe and Nicky wouldn’t want to tell him. Yet. She checks the time on her phone. 7:32am. She scowls at the phone before getting up out of bed. She needs coffee. She carefully walks down past Andy’s room before seeing that the door to Joe and Nicky’s - no, Nicky’s - room is open. She looks in and sees Nicky lying on his back with his eyes closed. His breathing appears to be normal, but his face is scrunched up.

“It’s ok Nile.” he says, making Nile jump.

“Fuck!” she exclaims, “how did you know it was me?” Nicky turns his head towards her and opens his eyes. They’re the same colour they were when they first met, blue with tinges of green.

“Your footsteps came from further away than Andy’s room, and since Joe and Andy are in there, that leaves you,” Nicky says.

“Great work Sherlock,” Nile quips, making Nicky snort. “Coffee?”

“Please.” Nile smiles as Nicky pushes himself up off the head. He looks better than when she saw him a few hours ago, pale and sobbing, but she can tell he barely slept. The bags under his eyes are more pronounced, and his eyes are still slightly bloodshot. He gets up off the bed and sniffs.

“I need a shower,” he sighs, “I’ll see you down there.” He turns to the ensuite and closes the door behind him. Nile sighs and walks down to the kitchen.

* * *

Once Nicky closes the door behind him, he goes into autopilot, removing his clothes and having a shower before he comes back to himself. He looks in the mirror and inspects his face. The bags around his eyes are darker, but that’s understandable given the many deaths he had in a short period. He grits his teeth and opens his mouth as far as possible. No changes there. Good. He starts to feel lightheaded and grabs the towel rail. The motion jolts his body awake, and he looks up to see his eyes glowing back at him. He gasps and jumps back, pulling the rail off the wall. Nicky gapes at the metal in his hand before dropping it like it burns. The rail loudly hits the floor. Nicky sighs and waits for the others to come running. He hears the door to Andy’s room open and two sets of feet run into the bedroom.

“Nicolò, are you alright?” It’s Joe’s voice. 

“Yes, Joe,” Nicky calls back. A third set of footsteps arrive. He wraps his towel around his waist and opens the door. Joe is only about a foot away from the door, and jumps back as Nicky looks out. His eyes move to the bathroom floor, and they go wide when he sees the rail.

“I guess I’m stronger now?” Nicky shrugs. Andy and Nile are near the bedroom door, watching them carefully. 

“I could’ve told you that,” Joe chuckles, then winces remembering why he knows that. Nicky closes his eyes and breathes in deep. He opens them again and Joe frowns a little.

“What is it?” Nicky asks.

“Your eyes, they went back to normal when you opened them,” Joe explains. 

“Maybe it has to do with stress or your heart rate,” Nile suggests. Nicky shrugs and moves into the bedroom. He heads to the dressing table and begins pulling out clothes. He turns and sees no one has left the room.

“I’m fine to put on clothes by myself,” he says, staring at each person for a few seconds for extra effect. Andy and Nile quickly leave, but Joe stays.

“Are you alright?” he asks. Nicky drops the towel and begins putting on his underwear.

“As alright as I can be,” Nicky responds. He grabs his jeans and puts them on next. As he zips them up, he looks down and catches the sight of his bite mark. His scar. The black dots are now dark pink with some white, similar to a small scar he has from when he was a boy on his ankle. He blinks, realising he stopped moving completely to stare at them. 

“Nicky…” Joe starts, but stops when Nicky’s head jerks up to look at him. Joe sighs and looks at him like his heart has been crushed. 

“I’m sorry about last night,” Nicky says, breaking the silence. Joe breathes in sharply.

“I told you you have nothing to apologise for,” he says. His hands stretch at his sides, wanting to reach out and touch.

“I know, but I still want to,” Nicky counters. Joe nods.

“Then I accept your apology.”

“Good.” Joe turns towards the door. He gets to the door and turns back around.

  
“ _ I’m here when you’re ready, my love _ ,” he says in Arabic, a smile tugging at the sides of his lips before disappearing out the door. Nicky throws on an old t-shirt, one he knows Joe bought but after being together so long they share their clothes. And there’s something comforting about wearing a shirt that smells faintly of Joe. He breathes the smell in deeply, then exhales, long and slow. They’ll get through this. Nicky nods to himself and walks out of the room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Summary:
> 
> Nicky has a nightmare about him attacking the others. Joe tries to wake him up and is injured. Andy and Nile come in, and when Nicky wakes up he's upset to find he hurt Joe in his sleep. Nicky doesn't trust himself, so Joe goes to Andy's room for the rest of the night. Nile wakes up to messages from Booker as Quynh dreams showed her Nicky was upset. Nile gets up to get coffee and Nicky scares her. Nicky goes to shower and Nile goes to the kitchen.
> 
> I'm planning to explore the fact that Nile is in contact with Booker and knows about Quynh in later chapters. 
> 
> Let me know what you guys think! I need to sort a few things out with the next chapter, so it'll take about a week before its completed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case it takes some time to get chapters up, I'm going to end every chapter with a quick summary.

Breakfast is quiet for the group. Too quiet. Everyone is walking on eggshells making sure they don’t upset Nicky. And he hates it. But he also understands why. He breathes a sigh of relief when Andy breaks the silence.

“We need to call Copley,” she says. Joe chokes on his toast. He gives Andy an apologetic look. “We need to know more about the target, and how he somehow has a werewolf on his property.”

“Could it have been our guy?” Nile asks. “He was supposed to be away on business, but maybe he stayed.”

“That may explain the lack of security,” Joe reasons, “less people to potentially hurt if they got out.”

“We won’t know unless we ask,” Nicky adds. All three faces turn quickly to him. Something inside Nicky - the werewolf maybe? - wants to growl, bare his teeth at them. Instead, he sighs. “We need answers don’t we? Maybe we go straight to the source.”

“Nicky…” Andy starts, but Joe turns in his chair to face Nicky at the end of the table and interrupts her.

“Nicolò, it’s too risky to go back there,” Joe says, unconsciously reaching out to touch Nicky. Nicky’s eyes dart to Joe’s hands, so Joe slowly brings his hands back under the table. “They’ll want to know who hired us and what we stole. We can’t give them that.”

“But they’re the only werewolves that we know of!” Nicky growls, “I need to know everything about my, my condition. And I doubt Copley will find much if they were able to keep this a secret in his initial sweep of the job.”

“Maybe he can find someone else, another werewolf,” Andy suggests.

“I doubt that,” Nicky scoffs, “If you haven’t seen one in over two thousand years, what’s the likelihood one is easily found? If they haven’t been discovered through today’s technology already what makes you think Copley will find one?”

“I don’t know Nicky but we need to try,” Andy huffs. 

“What about Booker?” Nile asks. It’s her turn to get all eyes on her.

“What about  _ him _ ?” Joe snaps.

“He can help us find more werewolves,” Nile reasons, “He was your tech guy after all.”

“We can’t trust him. Not yet,” Andy sighs.

“I’m not ready for him to come back,” Nicky says quietly. 

“Neither am I,” Joe adds. 

“Ok then, I will call Copley and try to get some extra information about our target,” Andy says, “Everyone get some rest, it’s been a long couple of days.” Joe stands and takes everyone’s empty plates to the kitchen sink. Nile grabs the cups and mugs.

“I’m going to get some sleep,” Nicky announces. He gets up from his chair and can feel Joe’s eyes on him, even though Nicky can’t see him. “Alone, please.” Nicky hates to add those two words, but he needs space. He walks back up the stairs and closes the door to his room behind him. He flops onto the bed, but he’s too awake for sleep. What if he goes to the estate by himself for answers? Joe would lose his cool but at least they may be receptive to a fellow werewolf. Then none of them could get hurt. He thinks it over, and Nicky decides that it’s the best course of action. He can’t go straight away, the others are still downstairs, unless… Nicky moves his head to stare at the window. It’s a simple non-bar design, and just large enough that he could slip out through it. 

Nicky hums to himself, thinking it over. Something inside Nicky tells him he needs to find others like him as soon as possible. How would he get there though? It’s at least a 20 minute drive - or was it 30? He can’t remember - so he shouldn’t walk there. But if he’s stronger, maybe he’s faster too? He could boost a car on the way there, but he doesn’t want to draw attention to himself. Take their car? No, he would have to get the keys or hotwire it within sight of the front windows. He has to go by foot. He can’t risk them following him. Nicky gets up off the bed. He digs out his spare shoes as his usual footwear is next to the front door of the safehouse and throws on a hoodie. He places his phone on the bedside table, better they don’t call him while he’s out. They’ll give him some space, so it will be at least an hour before someone checks on him. If he wants to be back in time, he’ll need to be fast. 

Carefully, Nicky unlocks the window and slides it open. He squeezes his way through the opening and quietly slips down onto the grass below. He stops and listens for the others, and can make out Andy talking to Copley on the phone, Joe and Nile chatting on the couch. No sudden movements. They didn’t hear him. Nicky sighs. He crouches low until he gets to the edge of the property and easily jumps over the three foot fence. He looks back at the house and smiles. This way, he can protect them. He runs off in the direction of the estate.

* * *

After 25 minutes, Nicky sees the estate come into view. He stops and breathes heavily. Is this a good idea? Will they help him? Surely if they turned him they have a duty to help him, right? Nicky shakes his head. He needs answers, and he  _ will  _ get them. He walks up to the front gate. Part of the gate is still twisted from a couple of nights ago. Nicky smirks. He moves over to the intercom on the right hand side of the gate. A security camera moves above him.

“What do you want?” comes an impatient voice from the intercom. Nicky turns to look at the security camera.

“I’m here about the break in the other night,” he says.

“What do you know about it?” the voice says again. Nicky lifts his hoodie and shirt, revealing the bite mark on his chest.

“I need answers,” Nicky responds. There’s a moment of silence before two men come out from the mansion. They march down to the gate and unlock it.

“Come with us,” one of them growls, turning back towards the mansion. The other stands behind Nicky and follows him. Together the three of them walk into the mansion, and Nicky instantly spots where he was bitten. The mixture of blood and black liquid still marks the floor. He clenches his jaw and keeps up with the man in front of him. They move further into the first floor and stop in a back room that looks like a surveillance room. There’s desks lining the opposite wall along with numerous screens showing different areas of the estate. The man Nicky followed shoves a chair next to him, and he sits. The two men flank the doorway, watching him carefully. A moment later, a man in a grey button up and black suit pants comes in. He walks over to the desk across the room and sits in another chair. He turns to face Nicky.

“So you’re the one that my man bit the other night?” the man says with a small smile on his lips. Nicky nods. “We didn’t think you would survive, what with your arm and leg dangling off you.” The other men laugh.

“I’m very resilient,” Nicky says simply. The man nods. 

“My name is Michael. I’m the pack leader,” the man says. Michael. not the target’s name, but Nicky remembers there was a Michael Brown listed as head of security. Must be him.

“Marco,” Nicky says. Michael smiles.

“Marco. Nice to meet you, and welcome to our pack.” 

“I need to know what exactly is happening to me,” Nicky responds. 

“And we are happy to teach you, once you officially join our pack.” Michael opens his arms and keeps his hands out in an open gesture.

“I have my own family, or pack as you would call it.”

“You mean the humans you broke in here with and killed a dozen of my men?” Nicky doesn’t say anything to that. “If you go back to them, you’ll kill them on your first full moon.”

“I won’t, I just need to know how to control it.” Michael laughs.

“Control it? Boy, you are a pup, barely two days old, you cannot fathom how long it takes to control the wolf.”

“I’m a quick study.” Nicky tries to keep himself composed, but he must radiate anger through his scent, as the other two men reach for their guns. Michael lifts a hand towards them, and they both freeze.

“My offer stands: join us, protect your family, and I’ll teach you everything we know.” 

“Then I decline. I will find someone else.” Nicky gets up off his chair and turns to the door.

“Have the nightmares started?” Nicky flinches at the question and stops in his tracks. Michael smirks. “They have, haven’t they? Nightmares of you ripping your family to pieces and enjoying it. It’s your wolf warning you that you will inevitably hurt them.” Michael stands up and moves closer to Nicky. 

“No.” Nicky turns and faces Michael. “I would never,  _ ever _ hurt my family.” Nicky feels his eyes change colour, and Michael’s eyes change to a deep amber. Both men growl deep in their chests.

“Oh but you will. A lone wolf is a scared wolf, and scared wolves lash out. You need us.” Michael smiles. “So this is my final offer. Join us, and we can help you understand your gift.”

Nicky stares him down. “No.” Michael lifts his hands in surrender.

Nicky turns to the door and the two men who escorted him before stand in his way.

“Let him pass,” MIchael says, and the men move out of Nicky’s way. “But Marco? If you ever darken our doorstep again, we will kill you. Goodbye, lone wolf.” 

Nicky walks as fast as he can to the front gate. Another guard is there, opening the gate. He lets Nicky through, and the moment he’s out of the estate, Nicky runs as fast as he can.

* * *

Andy frowns at her phone.

“I don’t care, Copley, call us back in 24 hours,” she says, hanging up on him. Andy moves to the armchair near the fireplace and flops into it.

“What’d he say?” Joe asks.

“He said he’d try, but he has no idea how the fuck a werewolf got through his vetting,” she sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose. Joe gets up off the couch, walks up to Andy and places a hand on her shoulder.

“Would you like a drink?” he quietly asks. 

“No I’m good, thanks Joe,” she smiles, “It’s been a while since we heard from Nicky, maybe go…”

“Already on my way,” Joe says as he crosses the room and climbs the stairs. He tries to muffle his steps in case Nicky did get some sleep. He softly knocks on the door.

“Nicolò, are you awake?” Joe whispers. There’s no response. Joe waits a minute in case Nicky’s taking his time to respond. What if he’s having another nightmare? What if he’s struggling and needs him? Slowly, Joe turns the door handle and pushes the door open. He peeks in, sees the empty bed and frowns.

“Nicky?” he calls, moving into the room. He turns towards the ensuite and heads to it. He looks around. No Nicky. Joe’s heart is in his throat as he quickly scans the room. The window is open. Shit.

“Joe?” NIle calls out. Joe rushes to the doorway.

“He’s not here!” He yells back. Nile and Andy rush up the stairs and into the bedroom.

“The window,” Joe croaks, “He snuck out.”

“Fuck, what is he thinking?” Andy hisses.

“Probably that his life has changed forever and the only person who may understand is a psychopathic drug lord?” NIle quips, earning her a glare from both Joe and Andy. 

  
  


There’s a loud crash from downstairs. All three of them rush down, Andy pulling a gun out from her waistband as they fly down the stairs. They find Nicky drenched in sweat and breathing heavily in the lounge room, the front door swinging on its hinges.

“Nicky?” Joe says, stepping forward. Nicky’s eyes are glassy, and he doesn’t seem to register the others before him. His legs give out and Nicky lands on the floor with a loud  _ thunk _ . Joe runs at him and drops to his knees. He reaches out to touch Nicky. 

“Nicky?” Joe whispers, and Nicky begins to sob.

“Yusuf,” he cries, moving to bury his head in Joe’s lap. Joe wraps his arms around Nicky and huddles over him. He looks back at Nile and Andy. they both have pained expressions on their faces, unsure how to help. The two of them move upstairs, giving them some privacy. Joe holds one of Nicky’s hands carefully, pulling it up to this mouth and kissing each knuckle.

“I’m here.”

* * *

Michael watches as one of his men is typing into a computer in the surveillance room. Another man enters the room, a piece of gauze over his left eye.

“Boss, you asked for me?” he says, and Michael turns to face him.

“I met your new pup,” Michael hisses. The man flinches.

“He should be dead,” the man stutters, “His arm and leg were coming off, the blood loss alone -”

“Yes, it should have killed him, and yet you still bit him,” Michael finishes. “I leave you here to keep an eye on the place since you showed you could control your wolf, and you turned an intruder.” Michael shakes his head, looking away from the other man. “He refused to join us.”

“Wait, you let him go?” the man questions. Michael growls at him, slamming his hands on a desk as the man cowers.

“I have a plan,” Michael snarls, “Now leave before I take your head.” The man runs out of the room. Michael sighs and grabs his mobile from his pocket. He scrolls through his contacts until he finds one with a face with an x for both eyes and calls them. He places the phone to his ear.

“Yes?” A voice at the other end says.

“Steven, how are you?” Michael asks through a grimace.

“What do you want?”

“Nothing, it’s more about what  _ you _ want. Say, like information on a lone wolf?”

“I’m listening.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Summary:
> 
> Team talk about what to do. Nicky wants to go back to the estate. No one agrees with him, so Nicky sneaks out. He meets Michael, the pack leader, who tries to convinces him to join them. Nicky refuses. Michael says he'll kill his family, and talks about the nightmares. Nicky runs back to the safehouse and collapses. Michael calls someone to give them information about Nicky.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case it takes some time to get chapters up, I'm going to end every chapter with a quick summary.

“Nicolò, what happened?” 

Nicky lifts his head slightly. Red rimmed eyes try to focus on Joe’s face, but he can’t. He doesn’t deserve Yusuf. He doesn’t deserve any of them. How stupid was he to think the werewolves would help him with nothing in return, they work for a drug cartel for heaven’s sake! 

“ _ I can see you’re beating yourself up over something, my love, please tell me _ ,” Joe says in Italian, placing a hand on Nicky’s cheek and rubbing his thumb over the tear streaks. Nicky shakes his head. He pushes himself away from Joe and his touch, gingerly getting back on his feet. Joe follows, watching Nicky’s every movement. “ _ Nicolò, please _ .”

_ “I went back to the estate _ ,” Nicky says, walking to the couch. He sits down and places his head in his hands. Joe takes the armchair closest to the couch. “ _ I spoke with the pack leader _ .”

“ _ Ok, what did they say? _ ”

“ _ That they’d only help if I joined them. That I’ll inevitably hurt you all. That if I ever return to them I’m a dead man. _ ” Nicky sighs. He rubs his eyes with the heel of his hands. “ _ Fuck, Joe, I messed up _ .”

“ _ It’s ok - _ ”

“ _ It’s not ok! _ ” Nicky yells, “ _ I fucked up, they could’ve followed me and I’d be endangering you all. Again. They gave me no answers and instead I’m more confused and angry than I was before I left! _ ” Nicky tries to calm himself, and looks Joe in the eyes. “ _ I’m sorry, you don’t deserve my anger, or any of this _ .” Joe makes a small noise.

“ _ Nicky, you’re my everything, what happens to you affects me. You don’t deserve any of this. This whole situation is something we couldn’t even believe would be possible a couple of days ago _ .”

“ _ Says the nine hundred year old immortal. _ ”

“ _At least you still have your sense of humour._ ” They both chuckle. “ _But seriously, my love, it’s ok to not be fine. You have every right to yell, to get angry, to let it all out._ _But please let me in_.”

“ _ I don’t know if I can. I need time, Yusuf. I need to understand this, this curse. And even then, I don’t know if I’ll be the same person ever again. _ ”

“ _ Nicolò, neither of us are the same person we were when we met. If we were, we’d still be killing each other. We both grew and became better people. I’m not saying you’ll be better once you understand this situation, but there is nothing you could ever do to make me stop loving you. _ ”

“ _ Ok _ .” Joe gives Nicky a small smile. Nicky sighs. “ _ But for now I still need some time. I can’t be close to you. I know you trust me, but I can’t trust myself, and until I do, I need space. _ ” Joe gets up off the armchair.

“ _ I’ll give you whatever you need, my love. And I’ll be here when you’re ready. But first, we need to talk to the others about your little excursion. _ ” Nicky groans. Andy might actually kill him after this.

“ _ Ok, bring them back here _ .” Joe goes upstairs and comes back a minute later with Nile and Andy in tow. Nicky stands and offers them the couch. Nile and Andy take the couch while Joe returns to the armchair. Nicky paces between them.

“Nicky, where did you go?” Andy asks firmly. He knows she knows where he went, but he has to say it.

“I went back to the estate,” Nicky says, deliberately looking between the couch and the armchair. Andy closes her eyes and shakes her head.

“I explicitly said NOT to go there,” she responds.

“I know, and I’m sorry, I had to try,” Nicky says. He runs his hands through his hair. “They refused to help unless I joined their pack.” Nile quietly sighs. 

“What did they say?” Andy continues.

“That I’m a danger to you all, that the nightmares are my wolf trying to tell me that fact. That if I return to them they’ll kill me.”

“Then we need to find a place to lie low for a while. A safehouse where you can shift safely. I’ll call Copley now and get it done.”

“Thank you, Andy.” Nicky instinctively moves closer to her, but stops himself from holding out his arms. Andy nods, gets up off the couch and goes back to her room. Nile looks up at him.

“Are you ok?” Nile asks. She’s so kind, even with everything they’ve thrown at her in the past year. Immortality, Andy’s mortality, Booker’s betrayal, the dreams of Quynh, and now this. 

“I’m ok, Nile, thank you,” Nicky says through a quick smile.

“I’m going to start packing things up, let me know if you need anything,” Nile says before heading back up the stairs.

“Get some rest Nicky,” Joe says as he gets up out of the armchair, “I’ll gather your things.” Our things, he means. Nicky nods, and walks out the room and up the stairs. He gets to his room and curls up on the bed. Joe comes in a minute later and quietly begins collecting their belongings. Nicky closes his eyes, trying to get a nap in before they leave in the next hour or so. But sleep doesn’t come. He listens to Joe pottering around the room, to Andy on the phone to Copley (“We need something like a cement basement, hell even a three inch thick door… something to contain a werewolf, Copley.”), and Nile picking up their supplies. Nicky doesn’t register how much time has passed, but after leaving the room for a while, Joe returns and calls out to him.

“It’s time to go,” he whispers, and Nicky quickly gets off the bed. They go downstairs and find Nile and Andy taking a couple of bags to the car.

“Where are we headed?” Nicky asks.

“Germany,” Andy grunts, taking the last bag out the door. Nicky and Joe follow. Andy closes the trunk and gets into the driver’s seat, Nile takes the front seat while Joe and Nicky share the back. They drive off and Nicky doesn’t give the safehouse another look.

* * *

During their unconventional trip to Germany, Nicky tries not to sleep. He’d rather not have that nightmare again in a confined space. A safehouse? Fine. But a car, boat or train? No thank you. He lasts 36 hours before exhaustion forces him to nap in their third car on this trip. Joe keeps a close eye on him for the 53 minutes Nicky sleeps. When he wakes Nicky groans as he realises he barely slept. 

“How long until we’re at the safehouse?” Joe asks, knowing what Nicky was thinking.

“Another 10 hours,” Andy says. Nicky sighs.

“ _ It’s ok _ ,” Joe tells him in their mix of old and new languages, “ _ I’ll watch over you. Get some sleep _ .”

“ _ I can wait _ ,” Nicky protests, rubbing his eyes. “ _ It’ll be safer if I wait _ .” Joe reaches out and softly touches his thigh, which makes Nicky flinch. Nicky places his hand on top of it, squeezes, then carefully puts Joe’s hand in his own lap.

“Nicolò -”

“ _ Please stop, Yusuf _ ,” Nicky says, and it's the use of his full name that stops Joe from saying more.

The rest of the journey is uncomfortably quiet, and Nicky sighs with relief when he sees an old building come into view. The building is the remnants of a castle, with a large house hidden behind it. Andy parks the car at the front of the house.

“Wow, Andy,” Nile gasps, “There’s the foundations for a castle. An actual castle!”

“Foundations,” Andy says as she exits the car, “that includes a vault with a heavy door.” She walks into the house, disappears for a minute, then comes back out. “Not much in here, but it’ll do. Nile and I will get more furnishings tomorrow.”

The four of them grab their gear and quietly unpack. Nicky has a look around, and finds the house has running water and electricity, which is a good starting point. There’s just enough rooms for them to all have a room to themselves, as well as a spacious living area with a big kitchen. Only one bathroom though.

“Not much, huh?” Nicky says as Andy walks past to claim her room. She snorts. Joe carefully comes up to Nicky.

“Um, what room do you want?” Joe asks as he rubs a hand along the back of his neck.

“I would like the room closest to an exit,” Nicky says.

“Second room on the right is closest to the back door,” Andy calls out. Nicky huffs and makes his way to that room. It only has a double bed and a bedside table, but it’s more than enough for him. Joe appears in the doorway as Nicky drops his bag on the floor.

“I’ll be right across the hall if you need anything,” he says, giving Nicky a little smile. Nicky nods as Joe leaves. Nicky finds some old sheets under the bed and decides to make the bed. Once he’s done, there’s a knock on the door.

“Hey,” Andy says, “I wanted to show you the vault before we settle in.”

“Ok.” Nicky follows her out of the house to what’s left of the castle. It looks like the remains of a kitchen, with stone steps leading down into the earth. At the end of the steps is a large metal door.

“We lucked out,” Andy says as she reaches for the door, “The old owner installed a new door, and it’s very heavy. Fuck, ok, can you help me with it?” Nicky chuckles as he helps Andy pull the door open. He sees no less than three locks and a spot to place a plank of wood across the door.

“What were they keeping in here,” Nicky wonders aloud as he walks in. The vault was around ten metres wide and at least fifteen metres in length. The ceiling is nearly three metres off the ground.

“Didn’t ask,” Andy mumbles as she looks around. “Will this be ok for you?”

“I think this will be more than enough, thank you, Andy,” Nicky says. He brushes his hand on the stone wall.

“We’ll have a rotation to watch the door to make sure it holds up.”

“And if it doesn’t?” Nicky asks quietly. He looks up at Andy. “What will you do then?”

“I’ve asked Copley to get us silver laced bullets to fit our handguns.” Nicky nods.

“Good.” They stand in silence for a moment. “Can you promise me something, Andromache?”

“Nicky,” Andy warns.

“If things don’t go as planned, you shoot to kill.”

“We don’t know if silver will permanently kill you yet.”

“I know.” Nicky sighs. “But I won’t be able to live with myself if anything happened to any of you. Please, Andy. Promise me this. You know I can’t ask Joe, and Nile’s too new, I can’t give her this burden.” He moves in close to Andy and cups her hands in his. The edge of her lips tick up.

“Of course, Nicky,” she whispers. 

“Thank you.”

They exit the vault and close the door behind them. They return to the others, and together they have a quiet night. Nicky’s nervous about going to bed, the thought of the nightmares making him eye the old coffee machine. Andy is nursing a bottle of alcohol with no label, Nile is working out how to connect to the internet - “If I don’t have access to Netflix, I’m not responsible for what I do to you” she said when Joe asked what she was doing - and Joe is sketching in a notepad. 

“You need to sleep, habibi,” Joe says without looking up from his notepad. “ _ And you said you would once we got to the safehouse. _ ”

“ _ I said it would be safer, not that I would _ ,” NIcky points out. It earns him a sigh from his partner.

“ _ You will be able to think properly after you get some sleep _ .”

“ _ Not if I have that nightmare again _ .”

“ _ Do you want to talk about it? _ ” Joe looks up from his notepad. Nicky rubs his eyes.

“ _ The short version is I killed you and Andy _ .” Joe gets up off the couch and crouches in front of Nicky but doesn’t touch him.

“ _ You said that when you went back to the estate, they told you it was your wolf warning you that you would hurt us. But you aren’t a different person now, my love, just added another part to you. It doesn’t change how much you love us, or how much we love you _ .”

“ _ I don’t know if that can win out over these instincts _ .”

“ _ What do you feel _ ?”

“ _ I feel like I need to find others like me, like I‘m alone. Like I need to fight to prove I’m not some weak pup. I need a pack _ .”

“ _ You have one already. You, me, Andy, and Nile. And one day, maybe even Booker and Quynh will be a part of it _ .”

“ _ You know what I mean. _ ”

“ _ I do, but you’re never alone, my love, as for as long as I’m alive I’ll be by your side _ .”

Nicky shudders. “ _ I’m scared, Yusuf. Hasn’t even been a week since it happened and I’m all over the place _ .”

“ _ Exactly, it’s only been a few days. It will take time to settle into a new normal. And we will settle into it. It’s just a bump in the road, not the end of it _ .”

“ _ Is this what Booker felt like _ ?” Joe blinks at the question.

“ _ I don’t know, Nicky. But right now he’s not who you should be focusing on _ .”

“ _ Maybe I should be sleeping in the vault. _ ” Joe places a firm hand on Nicky’s thigh.

“ _ You are NOT sleeping in there every night. You are not a monster to lock away. _ ”

“ _ Only a monster for one night a month then? _ ”

“ _ Nicolò _ .” Nicky raises his hands in a silent gesture of apology. “ _ Please get some sleep, and I’ll be in the room across from you. I’ll be next to you in a heartbeat if anything happens. _ ”

“ _ Yusuf, a tank can’t wake you up so how will you hear me? _ ”

“ _ That was ONE time _ .” Nicky huffs. “ _ And you know I’ll always wake for you. _ ”

“ _ Fine, I’ll try to sleep _ .” They both get to their feet at the same time, only an inch between their faces. “ _ Goodnight, Joe _ .”

“ _ Goodnight, my love _ .” After a moment, Joe forces himself to move out of Nicky’s way so he can head to his room. Joe sighs and returns to his notepad and pulls up the sketch he was working on. It’s a headshot of Nicky with a full bright smile, a rare one he keeps for only Joe’s eyes. Joe strokes the drawing. It feels like a lifetime ago since Nicky looked like this. He breathes out heavily, grabs his things and heads to his room. He finds that Nicky’s door is open, and that Nicky hasn’t bothered to change before going to bed. He’s facing the door with his eyes closed.

“Night,” Nicky whispers just loud enough for Joe to hear.

“Night,” Joe murmurs. He moves into his room and changes into a softer shirt and sleep pants. He positions himself on the bed so he’s facing the door, but can’t see into Nicky’s room. He’ll have to move the bed tomorrow. He closes his eyes, and after a few minutes falls asleep.

* * *

Nicky wakes up, and immediately feels cold. His bed has been replaced with the stone of the vault. When did he get here? Did he sleepwalk? He opens his eyes, and finds he’s facing one of the stone walls. He slowly gets up and turns around. Across the vault is the metal door. Or what’s left of it. The metal is twisted and broken, and covered in blood. Shit. It has to be another dream, right? He takes stock of his body. He doesn’t have any wounds, and he’s still wearing the same clothes he went to bed in. He makes his way to the door, and places a hand on it to move it out of the way. Warm blood coats his fingers. He steels himself to move up the steps. Streaks of blood line the walls. The sun is bright when he gets to the surface, so he squints to see what’s around him. There’s a body a few feet from him. He hears gasping. He rushes to kneel next to them, and lifts their face to see Nile choking on blood and black liquid. 

“Nononono,” Nicky whispers. He looks at her bloody arm, moving the remains of a long sleeved shirt from it. Underneath the blood is a bite mark. Nile shudders in his grasp before becoming limp. He places her on the ground praying she’ll come back. He hears a loud grunt from near their car and turns to face it. He sees two white arms crawling along the ground. Andy’s face comes out from behind a tyre.

“Andy!” Nicky yells. He runs at her and helps her to her feet. She’s unsteady, and groans when Nicky touches her stomach. There’s more blood. He lifts the shirt up, and finds a bite. The black lines are crawling over her skin.

“Fuck, no,” Nicky whimpers. Andy looks over his shoulder and her eyes go wide.

“Behind you!” She yells, but it’s too late. Nicky feels multiple sharp claws rip into his back before a second hand grip his shoulder and pulls him back onto the ground. Nicky screams in pain. He can’t move his legs. He looks up to see another man wearing his face. Long claws and teeth are dripping in blood.

“Make pack,” it growls in an inhuman voice.

“No, I’ll never turn them,” Nicky cries. 

“Make pack,” it growls again. 

“Get away from him!” Nicky turns his head to see Joe near the house, a shotgun in hand. 

“No, Joe, run!” Nicky screams as Not-Nicky jumps at his love.

* * *

Nicky wakes up screaming Joe’s name. He looks around the room, and finds Joe standing at the end of the bed, with Andy and Nile standing at the doorway. They all visibly relax upon seeing him wake.

“I’m sorry,” he croaks, his voice raw from screaming. 

“It’s ok, habibi,” Joe sighs, running a hand through his curls. 

“How long was I dreaming?” Nicky asks.

“You started screaming about 5 minutes ago, but Joe was already in here when we came in,” Nile says through a yawn. Nicky turns to Joe.

“You, you were calling out to Nile and Andy before you started screaming,” Joe explains.

“How long - “

“About 5 hours,” Joe responds, knowing Nicky wanted to see how long he actually slept. Nicky gives him a quick nod. Andy and Nile leave, but Joe lingers.

“Do you want me to stay?” Joe asks.

“No,” Nicky answers firmly, “But thank you.”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Nicky shakes his head. “Ok, try to get some more sleep.” Joe walks around the bed and heads to his room. Nicky breathes out heavily and runs his hands across his face. He turns on his left side to face the door. He closes his eyes and focuses on the sound of Andy groaning as she tries to find a position to sleep in that doesn’t cause her pain; on Nile tapping away on her phone; and on Joe’s soft movements in his bed. No doubt Joe’s having trouble sleeping without Nicky in his arms. But hearing them all gives Nicky some peace, and allows him to rest, even if he cannot sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Summary:
> 
> Nicky and Joe talk. Nicky tells the others where he went. They leave for Germany where they have a safe house with a an old castle vault, perfect for werewolf transformations. Nicky makes Andy promise to kill him if he gets out. Nicky dreams again, this time of trying to turn his family.
> 
> Soooo about 10% of this chapter was planned? Instead of glossing over this period I decided to have Joe and Nicky talk about their feelings. Because of that I've upped the chapter count. Lets see if I can keep it to 15 chapters!
> 
> Will be at least a week until I can post again thanks to RL.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry about the late update! This chapter was hard to write, and real life kinda get away from me. Anyway, this is the longest chapter I've written so far, I hope you like it!
> 
> In case it takes some time to get chapters up, I'm going to end every chapter with a quick summary.

After 2 weeks Nicky is sick of the nightmares. Every night he dreams of the wolf either killing his family or attempting to turn them. Tonight he decides to try something different. Tonight, as he goes to sleep, Nicky’s determined to talk to the wolf, to try to get through to it.

The dream starts in his room. He’s lying on his bed facing the door. He can see Joe’s empty bed across the hall. He gets up and heads to the hallway. He can hear faint murmuring from the kitchen.

“It’s best for everyone,” Andy whispers, and Nicky hears Joe’s dissatisfied groan in response. He slowly walks down the hallway. Nicky stops just shy of the doorway, hiding himself from view, but he can hear them speak as if they were next to him.

“Do you think I like this idea?” Andy snaps, “I don’t want to do it, but he’s a danger to everyone.” 

Nicky freezes. 

“He’s not Andy, he would never hurt us,” Joe reasons.

“Nicky wouldn’t, but the wolf isn’t him,” Andy says.

Nicky slumps his back into the wall and moves down until he’s sitting on the floor. He hangs his head and covers his face with his hands. He hears someone approach from the direction of his room. They sit next to him.

“They will leave you.” Nicky brings his head up to see the wolf. It still has Nicky’s face, but it’s eyes are a bright glowing blue. 

“No, they won’t,” Nicky responds. He takes a deep breath. “Why are you doing this?” The wolf cocks it’s head to the side.

“Need pack,” it says.

“We have one, they are our pack.” The wolf shakes its head.

“Need more like me.”

“Why?” 

“Need to learn. Need to be safe.” Nicky sighs.

“We are safe, and we are trying to find out what we can to help with this.”

“You don’t want me.”

“I didn’t have a choice.”

“Neither did I.” Nicky turns to face the wolf. He sees that the wolf is staring at the wall of the hallway, a forlorn look on it’s face.

“What do you mean?” The wolf turns it’s head and looks into his eyes.

“I was made when you were bitten.”

“Huh.” Nicky blinks. “I never thought of it like that.”

“Need pack to learn.”

“So you’re like a newborn babe, needing guidance?”

“I am young, I do not know much.”

“We will find a pack to learn from, I promise you, but in the meantime, you need to stop with these nightmares. It can’t be good for either of us that I don’t sleep.” The wolf grunts in response. “Are you there when I’m awake?”

“I see everything you see.”

“So you’re always there watching?”

“Yes.”

“So I can talk to you when I’m awake?”

“Yes.”

“Can you respond though?”

“I can try.” Nicky nods.

“Then until the full moon, can you please stop with the dreams? I will try to talk to you and see if we can try communicating.”

“I will try.”

“Thank you.” 

* * *

For the first time in two weeks, Nicky wakes up feeling refreshed. He sees Joe sleeping across the hall and smiles at his soft snoring. He misses the warmth of Joe’s body on his back as he sleeps. Nicky’s fingers curl around the bedsheet.

_ You want him. _

Nicky jumps at the voice. It sounds like the wolf in his dreams, but there’s nobody around him. 

“Are you in my head?” Nicky whispers.

_ Yes. _

Nicky swallows hard. 

“We need to set boundaries. We can talk when we are alone, if I am with our family I need you to stay quiet for now, please.”

_ Why? _

“I need time to understand this. Please.”

_ Fine. _

“Thank you.” Nicky sighs and gets out of bed. Maybe, just maybe, this can work. If he can talk to the wolf and work with it, then maybe he can have a normal life. Well, as normal as an immortal can have.

Quietly, Nicky tiptoes from his room into the hallway. He sniffs the air. Someone’s made a pot of coffee. He makes his way into the lounge room and finds Nile with her phone in one hand and a mug in the other.

“Morning Nile,” Nicky says. Nile flinches, coffee sloshing down the side of her mug.

“Shit, Nicky,” she hisses, “You really need to give a girl a heads up before you scare the crap out of her.” Nile pockets her phone as he gets closer.

“Sorry,” he chuckles. “Can I make breakfast as an apology?”

“Hmmm, I might forgive you,” Nile teases. 

Nicky walks into the kitchen and grabs out the ingredients to make pancakes. A few minutes pass and Joe walks into the lounge room, his sleepy frown turning into a warm smile when he smells the coffee. 

“Good morning, habibi,” Joe says, grabbing the cooling pot, “Want some?”

“I’m fine, thank you, Yusuf,” Nicky says without looking over at Joe. 

“I didn’t hear you last night, how did you sleep?” Joe asks.

“Actually, I slept well,” Nicky says, “I think the wolf is finally letting me sleep.”

_ That can change. _

Nicky hums to himself. Joe calls out to Nile asking if she would like a top up, and she gladly accepts. Joe brings the pot over to Nile and fills her nearly empty mug. Andy trudges in, her eyes barely open.

“Coffee,” she grumbles, and Joe laughs as he organises a cup for her.

“Breakfast is ready,” Nicky calls out. Joe, Nile, and Andy make their way to a small dining table and Nile squeals with delight at the stack of pancakes Nicky places in the middle of the table. Joe reaches out to grab one.

“Nile goes first,” Nicky tuts, shaking a spatula in his direction. Joe pouts as Nicky gives Nile a plate and some cutlery. She takes three pancakes from the pile, and Nicky adds condiments to the table. Once everyone has collected their breakfast, Nicky allows himself to sit down and eat.

* * *

The morning of the full moon Nicky wakes up with nausea and a temperature. He hasn’t been sick in over 900 years, and he doesn't miss it. He makes his way to the bathroom and places himself in front of the toilet, but he doesn't vomit. He leans on the toilet and groans. There’s a knock on the bathroom door.

“Nicky, are you alright?” It’s Nile. Her bedroom is the closest to the bathroom, so she probably saw Nicky rush to it.

“I’m ok, Nile,” Nicky sighs. He wipes the back of his hand across his brow as sweat drips down his face. 

“Can I get you anything?”

“No, no, I’ll be out in a minute.” Nicky hears her footsteps as she moves away from the door. He gingerly gets up off the floor and stands in front of the sink and mirror. He looks tired and run down, his face a faint shade of red. He turns on the taps and splashes some water on his face before wiping it away with a hand towel.

_ Tonight. _

“Yes it’s tonight,” Nicky says to the mirror. “Guessing I’ll feel worse later?”

_ Probably. _

Nicky snorts. He exits the bathroom and comes face to face with Joe. 

“ _ Who were you talking to _ ?” Joe asks in Italian, his brow creased with concern. Nicky thinks about lying, but he can’t keep anything from Joe.

“ _ The wolf _ ,” Nicky concedes. Joe raises an eyebrow. Nicky waves him off as he walks back to his room and flops on the bed.

“ _ You can communicate with it _ ?” Joe asks following him into the room.

“ _ Kind of _ ,” Nicky mumbles with his face firmly planted in a pillow. He turns and looks up at his love. “ _ I spoke to it two weeks ago in a dream, and we came to a kind of truce. No more dreams and I try to talk to them _ .”

“ _ Are they here, now, listening to us _ ?” 

“ _ It’s always there in the back of my head. _ ” Nicky groans as his body begins to ache.

“ _ Will you be like that all day _ ?”

“ _ I don’t know _ .”

“ _ Can they tell you _ ?”

“ _ No, they don’t know, _ ” Nicky snaps. He breathes out and looks at Joe, “ _ I’m sorry _ .”

“ _ It’s ok, this is all new _ ,” Joe soothes, “ _ Can I get you anything? _ ”

“ _ A new body _ ?”

“ _ I’m good but I’m not a miracle worker, love _ .”

“ _ Then no, I just need to ride it out _ .”

“ _ Ok, try to get some sleep if you can, and maybe later try to eat _ .” Nicky grimaces at the thought of food. He curls in on himself, applying some pressure to his stomach to help with the nausea. There’s a dull ache spreading through his body that radiates from his scar. 

Nicky closes his eyes, trying to get some sleep. He hopes that if he can sleep, his body may be able to heal him just enough to feel somewhat normal. He awakes to his body shivering. His skin is boiling to the touch, but he shivers as if he’s in a Russian winter. It’s going to be a long day.

* * *

Joe sighs into his coffee. He knows it only just turned midday, but Nicky hasn’t come out since his brief visit to the bathroom. And, simply put, he looked like shit. Was every full moon going to be like this, or was this because it's his first one? 

“Is Nicky ok?” Nile asks, pulling Joe out of his thoughts. He shakes his head.

“I’m not sure, I left him alone after he went to the bathroom,” Joe explains.

“It’s been a couple of hours, he might be hungry,” Nile suggests.

“I doubt it, but I’ll make him a plate and take it to him.” Joe gets up from his seat, and within 5 minutes has a selection of biscuits, cured meats, crackers, cheese, and some cut fruit ready for his beloved. He takes the plate along with a bottle of water to Nicky’s room, and finds Nicky shivering. He carefully places the plate and bottle on the bedside table.

“Habibi, can you hear me?” Joe asks. Nicky’s eyes seem to be looking at him, but not seeing anything. Nicky blinks a couple of times, coming back to himself, and properly looks at Joe.

“Yusuf?” Nicky whimpers. Joe slowly sits down beside him and places one hand on Nicky’s arm. Nicky stops shivering and growls deep in his throat. Joe goes to pull the hand away, but Nicky takes it and pulls him closer. Nicky gives Joe a tight hug. The growling continues as Nicky’s head moves to Joe’s neck, and he licks Joe from his shoulder to his ear.

“Nicky, what -” Joe starts, but Nicky pulls him into a hard kiss. He can feel something else getting hard rubbing against his leg. Joe moans for a moment. He’s missed this, missed being close, being intimate with Nicky. But something’s not right. He needs to pull back. Joe pulls his mouth away from Nicky who tries to chase after him. Joe leans his forehead on Nicky’s.

“Nicolò, stop,” Joe says firmly.

“Need you,” Nicky whimpers.

“I guess being so close to the full moon it messes with your hormones,” Joe chuckles. Nicky nods as best he can while still touching his forehead to Joe’s. 

“I want to fuck you so hard the bed breaks.” Joe audibly swallows at that. 

“I think it’s best if I leave you alone then, habibi, since you’re not in your right mind right now.” Joe feels Nicky’s lips twitch.

“Fine. I might go outside and practice my sword technique.”

“Eat first, you need your strength for that.”

“Ok.” Joe pulls himself away from Nicky, gives him one last smile, then leaves the room.

* * *

_ Why didn’t you take him? You wanted him. _

“I’m not forcing myself onto him if he doesn’t want that,” Nicky whispers in a hurry. His skin felt like it was crawling over his muscles, and his body was screaming to fuck or fight, and since fuck wasn’t an option, it looks like he’ll need to fight. Nicky picks up the plate and bottle off the bedside table, and begins munching on the food. Everything tastes bland, except the meat. Nicky’s mouth explodes at the taste, like he was tasting it for the first time and it was all his body ever wanted. 

_ Meat is good. _

“No surprise that you like meat,” Nicky says as he rolls his eyes.

_ Need more. _

“Why?”

_ Need energy for later. _

Oh. Right. Later. Since Joe touched his arm Nicky had somehow forgotten about that. It was only a few hours away, his first full moon.

“Will I feel it tonight?” Nicky tentatively asks.

_ I'm not sure. _

“Will I be present like you are when I’m awake?”

_ Maybe. _

“I guess we’ll work this out together then?”

_ Yes. Together. _

Nicky sighs. There’s not much he can do about it, so he may as well feed his stomach then feed his need for a fight, since Joe wasn’t going to feed his need to fuck. He downs half of the water bottle and gets up out of bed. He takes his plate and walks back to the kitchen. Nile and Andy are on the couch watching a period movie that Andy’s picking apart (“Nile, the dress is too small, the crinoline isn’t big enough!”), while Joe is sketching in an armchair. He looks up at Nicky and watches him clean the plate and place it on the dish rack. 

“Nicky, tell Nile how ridiculously unrealistic this movie is!” Andy calls out.

“It’s ridiculously unrealistic,” Nicky drones back. Where did he leave his sword? It’s not with the go bags in the lounge room, so it must be back in his room. How did he forget that?

“ _ Your sword is at the door, love _ ,” Joe says in Arabic without looking up. Nicky’s eyes dart over to the door, and sure enough, his sword and Joe’s scimitar are sitting in an umbrella stand. He huffs and walks over to it, pulling the sword and scabbard from the stand. He opens the front door and heads outside into a small courtyard. Trees line the property, unkempt and overgrown. Weeds and bushes grow out of control between them, only the courtyard has been maintained. Nicky removes his shirt and drops it next to the outer wall of the safehouse. He rolls his shoulders and does some light stretching.

Pulling the sword from the scabbard, Nicky inspects the blade. Its in good enough condition for practice, but he’ll need to polish it before their next mission. He sighs at that thought. It’s going to be a while before they can take a mission, not until he gets at least somewhat familiar with the wolf.

He twirls the pommel in his hand, the blade sings through the air. Just like old times. Nicky moves into the centre of the courtyard and starts drills on his footwork. The sword is a fluid extension of Nicky, moving exactly where he wants it to go with every twist and turn. With every movement his body hums with anticipation, itching to hit something. 

Some time later, Nicky stands up straight and smiles. The wolf seems to have enjoyed the exercises, he can practically hear it purr. His skin prickles, slowly growing in intensity the longer he stops moving. He sighs and wipes the sweat from his brow. He turns and jumps slightly when he sees Joe move to the scabbard, his cheeks flushed and a water bottle in hand.

“I, uh, I thought you might be thirsty,” Joe croaks, his eyes scanning over Nicky’s naked torso. Nicky smiles and moves towards him. He reaches out and grabs the bottle from Joe, and drinks the whole bottle. He places the empty bottle on the ground, and he can hear his heartbeat throbbing in his head.

_ It’s happening. I’m sorry. _

Nicky blinks, barely having a moment to contemplate the wolf’s words before a searing pain slams through his chest. He doubles over, dropping the sword at his side. A weak cry escapes his lips as he lands on his side.

“Nicolò!” Joe gasps as he gently moves Nicky onto his back. Nicky lifts his head as much as he can and looks down at his chest. He sees a rib pop up, pulling his skin tight. Much slower, the rib shifts back into its normal position. 

“Yusuf,” Nicky whimpers as another rib pokes out only to move back into place. He hands spasm as the bones shift in them. Nicky bites back a scream as his vertebrae pop and shift. 

“Joe? Nicky?” someone calls out.

“It’s too early, the sun’s still up,” Joe whispers. His hands hover over Nicky, unsure if his touch would help or hinder.

“V-vault,” Nicky groans. Joe nods, carefully grabbing his arms and pulling Nicky up off the ground.

_ I’m sorry. _

“It hurts,” Nicky cries to the wolf.

_ Let me out, and the pain will stop. _

Joe holds Nicky up as his legs give out.

_ Close your eyes. It will be over soon. I promise. _

“No,” Nicky says, shaking his head. Joe’s hands grip tighter as they get to the castle foundations.

_ No harm will come to your family. Let go. _

Nicky’s eyelids feel heavy. He blinks, once, twice. The third time, his eyes stay closed.

* * *

The moment Nicky closes his eyes, he feels like a dead weight in Joe’s arms. Joe stops and picks Nicky up off the ground. He sees him blink his eyes open, but now they’re glowing.

“Nicolò?” Joe asks. Nicky’s head turns to face him. There’s only a small amount of recognition in his eyes.

“Nicky’s not here,” he says, and Joe freezes.

“You’re the wolf,” Joe responds, and the wolf nods. 

“Joe, what’s happening?” Nile calls out. Joe can hear footsteps coming towards them.

“It’s starting early, I’m getting Nicky to the vault. Tell Andy to prepare,” Joe says without taking his eyes from the wolf.

He pulls the wolf down the steps. The wolf seems to have a bit more stability than Nicky, as it's able to support some of its weight. Joe moves him to lean against the wall and frowns.

“I need to open this door, can I trust you not to do anything while I do that?” The wolf nods again. Joe sighs, all he can do is have faith the wolf won’t hurt him.

Joe turns around and unlocks the door. It takes a few seconds for the door to open, but once it does he quickly turns back to the wolf and grabs it in his arms. The wolf seems to lean into the touch. Does it feel for Joe as Nicky does? Joe takes it to the back and sits it up with its back on the wall. The wolf sighs.

“Thank you,” it says through a wince. More bones are popping out under Nicky’s skin, but the wolf seems unfazed by it.

“Is Nicky awake in there?” Joe asks. He has to know if he’s still suffering.

“He is asleep for now,” the wolf says. It’s breathing deep breaths as muscles begin to flex in Nicky’s arms.

“So he won’t experience this?” 

“No, I didn’t want him to suffer.” Joe chuckles slightly.

“You seem attached to him. I’m not surprised, it didn’t take me long either.”

“I’m not attached to him, I’m a part of him,” the wolf explains, “I have different instincts, but I am still him.”

“Do you feel what he feels?”

“For you?” The wolf says, smirking up at Joe. Oh, it’s definitely like Nicky. “I don’t know what I feel, but I know I would weep if I hurt you. Need a pack to understand.”

“You mean a werewolf pack.” The wolf nods.

“I need guidance, I’m born with instincts I cannot understand.” It groans as the fingers spasm. Small claws are pushing out of the nails, but seem to be moving slowly. Too slow. The wolf notices Joe’s gaze and lifts a hand up. “I feel that this shift is wrong, starting too early and taking too long, but I can’t know for sure without a pack.” Maybe the immortality is fighting back? Joe hums at the thought. “But I pushed to come out, to protect Nicky from this pain.” Yep, definitely like Nicky to put somebody else’s needs before his own. 

“How long will the shift take?” Joe asks. He places a knee on the cold floor and looks at the wolf’s eyes. They seem to be getting brighter the longer they talk.

“I don’t know, but I feel that it will finish when the moon is high.”

“That’s still hours away.” The wolf hums. It closes its eyes when several ribs pop at the same time. 

“Better he not suffer this.”

“But you made him suffer those nightmares, why?” The wolf pouts.

“My instincts said to get to a pack, the dreams were how I could tell him to leave.”

“You preyed on Nicky’s emotions, yet you say you are a part of him. And now you’re trying to stop his suffering, what changed?”

“We talked.” The wolf blinks. “I, I’m always learning. From my instincts, from Nicky, from you.”

“From me?”

“Yes. From you. And your family. I’m learning how to behave, what is right. I’m but a moon in age, and I hunger to learn everything I can.” It cries when both shoulders pop out of their sockets. “It will only get worse. You need to leave.” The shoulders move back into place. Joe‘s legs feel like lead and refuse to move. How can he leave his beloved to this? “Yusuf. You don’t want to see this, and I don’t want to hurt you.” Joe startles at the wolf using his real name. He gives the wolf a nod and gets up off the ground. He makes his way to the door and takes a look back at the wolf. It’s eyes are closed, and the wolf seems to be focused on it’s breathing. Joe exits the vault and forces the door to close. He uses every lock on the door and checks it again to make sure he didn’t miss anything.

Joe slowly walks up the stairs. He lifts his head up and sees Andy approaching the top of the steps.

“How is he?” Andy asks. She has two pistols in her hand. She gives one to him.

“He’s asleep,” Joe says. The wolf screams.

“That’s not asleep,” Andy points out.

“Nicky is asleep, the wolf is in control of his body.”

“What?” Andy blinks at him.

“I know, it’s all new.” He drops to sit on the ground above the steps. He crosses his legs, and Andy sits next to him. “Nicky told me he can talk to the wolf, and it seems the wolf can talk back. It said it made him go to sleep so he wouldn’t experience this pain.”

“Is it separate from him? Like another mind, or soul?”

“I don’t know, it says it’s still Nicky, just with more instincts. It says they need a pack to work it all out.”

“Yeah, I’ll talk to Copley tomorrow about finding a pack that we can talk to.” Joe nods. The wolf screams again. Joe flinches at the sound.

“It’s the wolf that’s hurting, but it sounds just like him. I can’t -” Joe gasps midway through his thoughts. Tears escape his eyes. Andy wraps an arm around his back and pulls him close. Joe moves to give himself a better angle to place his head on Andy’s shoulder.

“We’ll get through this.” Andy is trying to sound confident, but Joe’s known her for 900 years, he can feel the undercurrent of uncertainty laced in her words.

“It’s going to be a long night,” Joe sighs. A blanket drops from above his head. He looks up and sees Nile holding more blankets in her arms.

“Camp out?” Nile says with a big smile. She nestles into Joe’s other side and gives Andy another blanket. The three of them wrap themselves up and look down at the stairs.

“We’ll need coffee,” Andy points out. 

“Pot’s on already, and bags not getting up for it,” Nile says, poking her tongue out at Andy’s disgruntled face.

“I’ll go,” Joe says to keep the peace, but a hand lands on each of his shoulders.

“No, I’ll go,” Andy responds gently. Joe moves his head off her and Andy retreats into the safehouse.

“He’ll be ok,” Nile says, rubbing Joe’s arm.

“I hope so, Nile. I wish I could take it all from him,” Joe murmurs.

“And what? Take on all this yourself? Then it would be Nicky here wanting to take your pain away.” Kid has a point. “It’s a shit situation, but we’ll work through it, cos that’s what families do, they help each other through the tough stuff.” Joe wraps his arms around her and kisses the top of her head.

“Thank you,” he whispers to the top of her head.

* * *

Two hours later, the screams in the vault turn to growling and howling. Nile, Andy, and Joe nervously hold a gun each, watching the vault door. The minutes tick by, and they hear the werewolf move around the vault, but it doesn’t touch the door.

Ten hours later, once the moon has disappeared behind the horizon, Joe carefully moves to the door, while Nile stands behind him, gun pointing at the door. Joe unlocks it, and slowly the door swings open. After a moment, Joe steps inside and looks around. There’s pieces of Nicky’s clothes scattered about the floor from the change. He finds Nicky in the corner to his right, curled up into the fetal position and facing away from him.

“Nicky?” Joe breathes out, but he doesn’t get a response. He slowly moves towards Nicky, but he doesn’t move. Joe places a hand on Nicky’s side and gently guides him to lay on his back. Nicky’s eyes are shut, and he’s breathing through his mouth, almost panting. “Nicky, are you awake?” Still no response.

Joe carefully scoops up Nicky in his arms and turns back to the door. Nile is standing there, tucking her gun into her jeans as she pushes the door further open. She helps Joe get a better hold of Nicky, and doesn’t bat an eyelid at his nudity. Joe turns to his side and moves slowly through the doorway. He takes the steps at a slow pace, Nile right behind him in case he slips or falls. Andy is standing at the top of the stairs, her lips in a thin line as she inspects the scene in front of her. She moves to the front door and holds it open for Joe to go through. He weaves through the furniture, walks down the hallway, and gently places Nicky on his bed. He looks around and finds Nicky’s bag, and takes out some clothes. He efficiently gets gets Nicky dressed with underwear, pants, and v neck shirt. Even with the movement, Nicky doesn’t wake. Joe frowns at him. Maybe the shift has exhausted him. He places Nicky to lay on his back with his arms at his sides. There's a knock on the door and Joe turns to see Nile with a chair and some water.

“Thought you wouldn’t want to leave him,” she says as she looks anywhere but in Nicky’s direction.

“He’s decent now,” Joe chuckles, and waves her in. She places the chair next to the bed and the water on the bedside table.

“Is he asleep?” she asks, peering down at him.

“I think so,” Joe says, sitting down on the chair. “But I hope he wakes soon.” Nile places a hand on his shoulder and gives it a small squeeze.

“I hope so too.” And with that, she leaves. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Summary:
> 
> Nicky talks to his wolf, and they come to an agreement. The full moon approaches. The shift comes early, and the wolf spares Nicky the pain. The wolf and Joe talk. Once the full moon is over, Joe takes an unconscious Nicky back to his room.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for your patience everyone! Took a bit longer to get this out than I expected, but finally some comfort for Nicky!

The first thing Nicky notices when he wakes up is an ache all over his body. There’s an overwhelming smell of coffee, and just behind it he can make out -

“Nicolò?” Joe's voice whispers through his thoughts. Very slowly, Nicky opens his eyes. It’s too bright. He blinks twice, and the blurry outlines begin to focus. Joe’s on his left side, sitting on a chair with his knees touching the bed. He’s leaning forward, but not touching Nicky, just waiting for a response. The lights are off and the curtains are closed, but sunlight is still filtering into the room.

“Joe?” Nicky croaks. Joe leans out of Nicky’s view and brings a water bottle to his mouth. He places a hand behind Nicky’s head and gently pushes him forward.

“ _ Drink _ ,” Joe says in Italian, and Nicky takes two small sips before coughing. The coughing reverberates through Nicky’s body, and he groans as the ache worsens. Joe moves his face in front of him. “ _ How are you feeling _ ?”

“ _ Horrible _ ,” Nicky moans. He tries to move an arm to sit up but it’s too heavy. He looks up at Joe. He sees this hair and beard are a mess, and the skin under his eyes is darker than normal. He hasn’t been sleeping. “ _ How long _ ?” Joe runs a hand through his hair.

“ _ The full moon was two nights ago _ .” Nicky’s eyes widen. He’s lost  _ over a day _ . “ _ What is the last thing you remember? _ ”

“ _ We were _ ,” Nicky starts before clearing his throat, “ _ We were going to the vault _ .” Joe nods. “ _ What happened? _ ” 

“ _ The wolf came out as we were getting to the stairs _ ,” Joe explains, “ _ And we talked.They said they wanted to protect you from the pain _ .” Nicky groans. “ _ They said they’re a part of you, and they need a pack to learn from _ .” 

“ _ Did I, did they… _ ”

“ _ No, no, my love, no one was hurt _ .” Nicky sighs with relief. Joe frowns before continuing. “ _ You said you feel horrible, what’s wrong? _ ”

“ _ I’m hurting all over, it’s an odd feeling. I haven’t felt like this since I got sick as a child. _ ”

“ _ Can you move? _ ” Nicky focuses all of his energy into moving his left arm to touch Joe, but all he can muster is a twitch in his fingers.

“ _ No _ .” Joe bites his lip.

“ _ Ok, maybe we can get you a bath, I’ll check with Nile as to what may help with the pain _ .” 

“ _ Ok. _ ” Joe nods, and slowly he gets up out of his chair and leaves the room. Nicky can hear his footsteps along the floor until they come to a stop outside Nile’s room. There’s a knock at her door, then the opening and closing of what must be the door to her room. Nicky tries to move his head around, but to no avail. It’s quiet, and Nicky wonders if the wolf is awake too.

“Are you there?” he whispers into the room. He waits for a response, but is met with more silence. Normally, even if the wolf was quiet, Nicky could feel them in the back of his mind, but now there’s nothing. Was this it? Was something different after the first full moon? 

  
  


Nicky hears a door open and close again, and then moments Joe’s back in the room.

“ _ Nile says she bought some epsom salts for Andy, and has some left we can use for a bath. Is that ok? _ ” Joe asks.

“ _ Yeah _ .”

“ _ She also said she has a couple of other things that might help after the bath. Now, I’ll get Nile to fix up the bath, but since you’re not moving I’ll need to undress you here and carry you into the bathroom, is that ok? _ ”

“ _ Whatever you need to do. _ ” Nicky closes his eyes, he can move his neck slightly, but even that causes the pain in that area to increase. He hears Joe leave again, but this time he stops in the hallway and is met by another set of footsteps.

“Is he ok?” It’s Nile. Her voice is barely a whisper.

“I don’t know, I’m worried this’ll be what it’s like after every full moon,” Joe whispers in a hurry. “Could you please draw a bath, only about a foot deep, with some salts? He’s not moving so I’ll have to prepare him in his room.”

“Yeah of course, I’ll also get some gel and a heat pack ready for after.”

“Thank you Nile, I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“I don’t know how any of you survived this long without me.”

“Only because of our immortality.” Nile chuckles at that, and her footsteps move into another room, while Joe’s are heading back to Nicky. Nicky opens his eyes to see Joe standing to his left and leaning over the bed.

“Nicolò,” Joe says, “ _ I’ll need to undress you now. I’ll go slow, and tell me if it hurts or you need to stop _ .” Nicky swallows.

“ _ Ok _ .” 

“ _ I’ll need to lift you in order to get the shirt off. _ ” Nicky grunts his consent. ” _ I’m going to move onto the bed to do that. _ ” Slowly, Joe moves to sit on the bed with his legs hanging off the side but his torso turns towards Nicky. The dip in the mattress makes the ache burn throughout his back, but Nicky says nothing. He needs to get better, and right now the only way that can happen is if Joe helps him. Joe leans forward and places a hand on the back of Nicky’s head, and another around his back. Steadily, Joe moves back, bringing Nicky with him. The ache gets worse throughout his head and torso. Nicky tries to bite back a cry, but a whimper still gets out. Joe freezes.

“Nicky,” Joe breathes into his ear.

“ _ Keep going _ ,” Nicky pleads. Joe starts moving, and once he’s sitting upright he places Nicky’s forehead on his shoulder. 

“ _ Are you alright? _ ”

“ _ No _ ,” Nicky pants, “ _ But we need to keep moving _ .”

“ _ We can stay like this for a minute. Nile needs time to get the bath ready anyway _ .”

“ _ Ok, but only a minute _ .” Nicky’s body feels like it’s on fire. He tries to regulate his breathing, and after a few seconds his pants turn into deep breaths. He realises Joe’s stroking the back of his head and his back. He focuses on the touch, a cool change to his boiling temperature. He feels his sweat dripping down his face, narrowly avoiding his eyes. 

“ _ I’m going to move my hands to your shirt now, and I’m going to lift it up and over your head. _ ”

“Uh huh.” It’s all Nicky can manage to say. He immediately misses the feeling of Joe’s hands on his skin. Joe’s fingers skim along his stomach where they find the hem of Nicky’s shirt. Nicky moans, but he doesn’t tell him to stop. Joe falters for a second, but when Nicky doesn’t talk he continues. He’s able to lift the shirt up to Nicky’s armpits without much trouble.

“ _ I’m going to move your arms one at a time. _ ” Joe waits a moment and lifts Nicky’s left arm. Nicky winces from the pain. Joe’s able to get the arm out of the shirt without much issue, then repeats the process with the other arm. “ _ Tell me if you need to stop. _ ”

“ _ Yusuf. Move _ .” Joe carefully raises Nicky’s chin with one hand while he lifts the shirt with another. Once the shirt is off, Joe brings Nicky’s head back to his shoulder.

“ _ Part one is done, my love. You did so well. _ ” Joe kisses his ear. “ _ I’ll have to place you back on the bed now, and I’ll need to remove your underwear and pants _ .” 

“ _ Ok _ .” Joe holds his head and back again, and slowly he leans forward to place Nicky on the bed. Nicky closes his eyes and groans.

“ _ I’m sorry, my love _ .”

“ _ It’s ok, keep going _ .” Joe moves his hands down to Nicky’s hips. His fingers curl under the band of the underwear and pants. He carefully pulls them down lower. Nicky hisses. It feels like the fabric is shaving his skin off as it moves. Joe stops again, and Nicky snaps. “ _ Keep going _ !” Joe huffs, but keeps moving. After a minute, the clothes are around Nicky’s ankles, and Joe lifts one up at a time to remove the fabric. 

There’s a small knock on from the doorway. Nicky can smell Nile hovering out there.

“Joe?” Nile asks.

“Yes?” Joe responds.

“The bath is ready.”

“Thank you, Nile, I’ll bring him out in a moment.” Nicky hears her footsteps move further down the hallway and into the lounge area.

“Nicolò, it’s time. I’ll need to lift you into my arms and carry you into the bathroom, ok?” Joe says. Nicky opens his eyes and gives Joe a small nod. It still hurts to move his head, but it’s slightly better than it was a few minutes ago. 

Joe gets up off the bed and turns to face Nicky. He bends over and curls his arms under Nicky’s legs and back. He lifts Nicky off the bed, and with whatever strength he can muster, Nicky leans into Joe’s body. Joe grunts, moving his arms to get a better hold. Nicky’s body is bursting with pain, but he can hear Joe’s heartbeat, and focuses on that. Nicky hums at the sound and closes his eyes. It’s going faster than normal, but it’s reassurance that Joe is there and ok and uninjured. Nicky didn’t fuck up on the full moon. He didn’t hurt anyone. 

“ _ Going to put you down now. _ ” A moment later, Nicky feels warm water on his aching legs, then his stomach and back. He hums again, the water surprisingly soothing. Nicky opens his eyes and turns towards Joe. He gives him a little smile, and Joe’s face breaks into a grin. “ _ How does that feel? _ ”

“ _ Good _ .”

“ _ Excellent. I’m going to use a washcloth on your face and chest, is that ok? _ ”

“ _ Can you put more water in? _ ”

“ _ Of course, my love, I just didn’t want you to slip under _ .” Joe turns the tap on, gets the water to the same temperature as the bath and fills it up to Nicky’s chest. Joe grabs a washcloth and places it in the water. He gives it a squeeze, then tenderly washes Nicky’s shoulders. Nicky hums. His muscles are beginning to loosen up, and the ache is starting to dissipate. Joe moves up to his neck, then his cheek. Nicky leans into the touch.

“ _ I’m sorry _ ,” Nicky whispers. Joe blinks.

“ _ Why are you sorry? You’ve done nothing wrong _ .”

“ _ I’m too tired and hurting too much to be able to move. I’m a burden. _ ” Joe drops the washcloth and cups Nicky’s face with both hands. He stares into Nicky’s eyes.

“ _ You, Nicolò di Genova, are the love of my life. You are never a burden, I choose to be at your side today and every day of our long lives. And no matter what happens, you’ll have me, and we’ll get through it together _ .” Nicky’s eyes begin to burn as tears well up.

“ _ I love you _ .” Joe leans forward and touches Nicky’s forehead with his own.

“ _ I love you too, now and forever. _ ” After a moment, Joe leans back and grabs the washcloth. Nicky closes his eyes as Joe washes every inch of his body before reaching for his hair. “ _ My love, may I wash your hair? _ ”

“ _ Yes, please _ .” Joe carefully wets Nicky’s hair before massaging shampoo through it. Nicky moans, and Joe’s hands freeze. “ _ It feels nice. _ ” Joe breathes a sigh of relief and continues. Nicky relaxes under the touch and he drifts off to sleep.

* * *

“ _ Nicolò, it’s time to get out of the bath _ .” Nicky hums as he opens his eyes. He stares at Joe's face and smiles. The ache through his body barely registers. The water in the bath is room temperature. Nicky makes a note to thank Nile and make sure they have epsom salts at all of the safehouses. To his surprise, Nicky lifts his hands up to touch Joe’s face. 

“ _ I see you’re feeling better _ ,” Joe chuckles.

“ _ I’ll have to thank Nile later, _ ” Nicky says.

“ _ Do you think you can stand? _ ” Nicky frowns and looks at his legs. Slowly, he’s able to get to his feet using Joe’s arms for support. He lifts one shaky leg and steps out of the bath. Nicky lifts the other leg and his foot hits the edge of the bath as he tries to get out. He falls forward and into Joe’s arms. “ _ You ok? _ ”

“ _ I’m fine _ ,” Nicky grumbles. Joe places the toilet seat down.

“ _ Here, sit on the toilet and I’ll dry you _ .” Nicky nods. Joe grabs a towel from a rack across the small bathroom, and he carefully wipes over Nicky’s body. 

“ _ Thank you _ .” Joe takes his eyes away from Nicky’s leg and looks up as him. A small smile tugs at the edges of his mouth.

“ _ You’re welcome, my love _ .” Joe places a kiss to Nicky’s left knee and finishes drying him. “ _ All done. We’ll walk back to your room to get you some new clothes _ .” Nicky nods. Joe helps him onto his feet, and ties the towel around his waist. While Andy may be used to casual nudity, neither of them want to embarrass Nile just yet. With Joe at his side, Nicky walks slowly down to his room. He leans into Joe’s touch. Once they make it to his room Joe guides him to the bed and closes the door. Nicky sits on the bed, barely stopping himself from flopping back onto it. He watches Joe search through Nicky’s bag and finds some fresh clothes.

“ _ Do you need help putting them on? _ ” Joe asks.

“ _ I don’t think so, but stay in case I trip again _ .” Joe laughs at that, and Nicky smiles. It’s almost like it was before. Almost. 

It takes Nicky a minute to get the clothes on, but at least he doesn’t fall again. He lays back down on the bed, curling up underneath the covers. Joe kisses his forehead.

“ _ Can I get you anything else? Nile said she had a heat pack and some gel that may help. _ ” Joe whispers. His face lingers just above Nicky’s.

“ _ No thank you _ ,” Nicky responds.

“ _ Ok, I’ll leave you to sleep. Let me know if you need anything _ .” Nicky hums, and Joe moves away from the bed. He gives Nicky another smile and leaves. Joe leaves the door open. Feeling a thousand times better than he did a short while ago, Nicky falls back to sleep.

* * *

Joe walks down the hallway and rubs his eyes. He’s been awake for two days straight. He knows he needs to sleep, but he can’t, not yet. He makes his way to the kitchen and pours another coffee.

“How is he?” Joe startles at the voice, and turns to find Andy behind him. 

“Better than he was,” Joe comments. “Coffee?”

“I’m good, but we need to discuss where we go from here.” Joe yawns. “Maybe after you get some rest.”

“No, no, let's start the talk now, then continue tonight with Nicky here too.” Andy nods and moves to the lounge area. She sits in an armchair across from the couch Nile is lying on. Joe takes the other armchair. Nile moves to sit up.

“Thank you for the salts Nile, they did wonders for Nicky,” Joe says. Nile blushes.

“It’s nothing, my mom always used them when we were injured from playing various sports,” Nile says while looking away.

“It’s not nothing, he couldn’t move before the bath, and now he was able to dress himself. He really appreciates it, and I do too.” Joe waits for her to look back at him and gives her a loving smile.

“About Nicky,” Andy starts, “How’s he really going?”

“He’s tired, more tired than I‘ve even seen him,” Joe answers, “I don’t know how long it’ll take for him to be back to normal. Well, relatively normal.”

“We’ll need to move again soon, in case that pack comes after us,” Andy says, “But it’s going to be difficult to find places with the space to lock up a werewolf. Between the noise and his strength, that leaves us with only a handful of safehouses.”

“We’ll need to get more or renovate,” Nile says simply. “I mean, you have the money, why not just buy a few places that would be suitable?”

“It’s not that simple,” Andy responds, “Every 4 weeks Nicky will change, which makes it hard for us to take on jobs until he can control it. Or it means we have a 2 or 3 man team instead of 4.”

“I’m not leaving him Andy,” Joe interjects firmly, “He needs all the support he can get.”

“Maybe it’s time we talk to Book,” Nile suggests. Joe and Andy stare at her. “Like you said, he needs all the support he can get, and Booker can help with that.”

“No,” Joe grumbles, “He betrayed us. It’s only been a year, we need more time.”

“I’m not saying to forgive him,” Nile responds, “I’m saying he could help. It’s another pair of hands on missions, another set of eyes to keep watch. And maybe he can help find a pack for Nicky to meet.”

“No,” Joe hisses. Nile blinks, shaken for a second at Joe’s response, but she nods in acceptance.

“How long until we should move again?” Nile asks, turning towards Andy.

“Give it another full moon to see if he’s better after that one or if he’s gonna be like this for every one. I want to leave earlier than that, but in reality this one is completely off the books and a safehouse Booker doesn’t know about, so it’s possibly the safest place we can be in. And it’ll give us time to figure out which safehouses will need upgrades and get that sorted.” Andy looks at both Nile and Joe and waits for a nod from each of them before continuing. “I’ll contact Copley and ask him to locate a pack for Nicky to learn from. Since it’s been so long since any of us last saw a werewolf, it’ll take some time before he’ll find one.”

“And in the meantime?” Nile asks.

“We’ll all help look after Nicky,” Andy answers, “And your training will continue. How do you feel about learning Greek?”

“Sure, why not,” Nile chuckles. 

Andy smirks and pulls out the phone from her pocket. She taps away at the screen before bringing the phone up to her ear.

“Copley,” Joe hears at the other end of the line.

“It’s Andy, we need you to find a pack of werewolves,” Andy responds.

“I’ve been looking into it since Nicky was bitten, and I haven’t found anything,” Copley sighs, “As their existence isn’t common knowledge, it means they’re able to hide very well, even with today’s technology.”

“Maybe so, but you’re ex CIA, surely you have a few tricks you can pull out,” Andy huffs.

“I’ll do what I can. How is he?” Copley asks tentatively. 

“He’s coping. Get back to us when you have something.” Andy hangs up before Copley can respond. She looks directly at Joe.

“You look like shit, go get some sleep,” she says.

“Andy, maybe we should talk more - “ Joe starts, but Andy lifts a hand up and he stops.

“You’ve been watching over Nicky since before the full moon. You need to rest. Nile and I both got a bit of sleep, we’ll keep an ear out and if anything happens we’ll let you know,” Andy orders. “Now give me that coffee and go.” Joe rolls his eyes and hands over his mug. He gets up and heads to his room across from Nicky’s. He looks at Nicky and smiles. He looks content in his sleep. Joe walks into his room and doesn’t bother to change out of his clothes before dropping onto the bed. The moment his head hits the pillow he falls asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Summary:
> 
> Nicky wakes up after sleeping for over a day. As Nicky is too sore to move, Joe helps him have a bath. Once Nicky is asleep again, Andy, Nile, and Joe discuss where they go from here. Joe finally gets some sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Chapter Summary:
> 
> Andy, Nile, Joe, and Nicky get ready for a mission. Joe has reservations about Andy being able to adjust to being mortal. Joe and Nicky have some time alone. Team leaves for the mission. Joe and Nicky take the front, Andy and Nile take the back. Nile is getting the info they need when a strange beast goes after Nicky and Joe.
> 
> Feel free to give kudos or comments! I'm hoping to update at least once a week, depending on what happens IRL.


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